About two thirds of Germans are against the country’s imminent shutdown of the remaining three nuclear power plants, a survey by opinion research institute YouGov commissioned by the news agency dpa found. Germany’s remaining nuclear power plants are set to be shut down on 15 April, having been granted a three-and-a-half-month runtime extension to ensure security of supply during winter. However, 32 percent of those surveyed were in favour of the remaining reactors continuing to run for a limited period, and an additional 33 percent were in favour of an unlimited runtime extension. Only 26 percent fully support a complete phase-out nuclear power at this point in time. According to the survey, the majority (56%) of Green Party supporters were in favour of the phase-out, while support for the measure decreases amongst supporters of the other two government coalition parties. Just under a third (31%) of Social Democrat (SPD) supporters and only around a tenth (12%) of Free Democrat (FDP) supporters are in favour of the phase out. dpa did not detail the phrasing of the question and YouGov did not provide details in time for the publication of this article.
The decommissioning process marks a key milestone for the nuclear phase-out. Originally, Germany was set to shut down nuclear power production at the end of 2022. However, the European energy crisis fuelled by Russia’s war on Ukraine afforded the technology a last runtime extension to support electricity production. This caused a last-minute uproar by proponents of the technology, who argue the phase-out is ill-timed and will exacerbate challenges in energy security and emissions reduction. Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck assured that energy supply security will be guaranteed following the nuclear exit, wrote dpa. The process that took more than two decades to prepare will take several more decades before its fully completed.
