Germany will permanently shut down the remaining three nuclear power plants and exit nuclear power generation by mid-next month.
Steffi Lemke, Germany's Environment Minister, held a press conference in Berlin on the 30th (local time) and announced, "On April 15, the operation of the three nuclear power plants currently in operation in Germany?Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2, and Emsland?will be stopped, marking the beginning of a new era."
Minister Lemke also pointed out, "The nuclear waste generated from using nuclear power will remain a hazard for the next 30,000 generations."
Germany had originally promised to phase out nuclear power by the end of last year, but due to the energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Chancellor extended the operation of the remaining three nuclear power plants until April 15.
He stated, "In the coming years, we will face the significant challenge of dismantling nuclear power plants. Over the past 60 years of nuclear power generation in Germany, only three plants have been completely dismantled, and 30 remain. Dismantling a nuclear power plant takes 10 to 15 years."
He also added that nuclear waste must undergo intermediate and final processing. Currently, there are more than 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste, making it inevitable to establish a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste.
Germany plans to establish a final disposal site for nuclear waste by 2031, but Wolfram K?nig, head of the Nuclear Waste Safety Management Authority, stated, "The biggest challenge is finding a safe final disposal site deep within geological layers."
Nuclear power has accounted for 5% of total electricity production in Germany.
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