German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on the 10th (local time) that the previous government's nuclear phaseout policy was a "strategic mistake," but it cannot be reversed.
At a news conference with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who visited Berlin that day, Chancellor Merz assessed the 2011 nuclear phaseout in this way.
Merz said, "That decision (the nuclear phaseout) is irreversible," adding, "That's the reality." Germany once operated as many as 37 nuclear reactors. Through this, up to one-third of the electricity used depended on nuclear power. However, after the 2011 accident at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant, Germany declared a nuclear phaseout, and the last three reactors ceased operation in April 2023.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Union (EU) executive body, said at a private nuclear summit in Paris, France, that day that Europe's shunning of nuclear energy was a "strategic mistake."
In response, Merz said, "Personally, I share the same view as Chairperson von der Leyen." However, he said, "Because the previous federal government decided on the nuclear phaseout, nothing will change for Germany."
Merz judges that a practical return to nuclear power is impossible. This is because restarting reactors already being dismantled would require restoration work on a scale similar to new construction.
Instead, Germany has sharply increased the share of renewable energy, such as wind and solar power. However, power generation from renewables is heavily affected by the weather. As a result, it is now pushing to build new gas-fired power plants.