Bundesrat concludes its consultations - clear road ahead for the new direction in energy policy
After the Bundestag, the Bundsrat has now also concluded its consultations on the draft amendment of the Atomic Energy Act, thus paving the way for the new law to enter into force. The demand madeby Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and Hesse - Länder governed by the conservative CDU party - to convene the Mediation Committee was rejected. Addressing the opposition parties, FederalEnvironment Minister Jürgen Trittin said: "Your demands show with commendable clarity the alternatives facing voters on election day, 22 September: 'Do we want a safe energy supply withoutnuclear energy or do we want a return to the plutonium economy with Mr Stoiber?'."
This amendment gives legal security to the agreement the German government and the utility companies signed last year on phasing out nuclear energy. "Today marks the implementation of a coreproject in the environmental policy of the German government" commented Jürgen Trittin. "Phasing out nuclear energy is a corner stone of the new direction in energy policy that the governingparties have taken and which is aimed at a future-oriented energy supply." The fundamental elements of the amendment include the ban on building new commercial nuclear power plants and the limitationof the operating life of existing plants to 32 years from their initial operation. For the first time, regular safety checks are made obligatory by law.
The new Act, which replaces the Atomic Energy Act of 1959, was already decided upon by the Bundestag in December. Consultations with the associations concerned and with the Länder were heldprior to this, and led to numerous changes of details and additions to the draft.
Federal Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin emphasized that the risks attached to nuclear energy are only acceptable - if at all - for a limited period of time. He added that this was thereason why the unlimited operating life of nuclear power plants had to be limited by means of a new act on nuclear energy.
In light of the terrorist attacks of 11 September, Jürgen Trittin stressed that phasing out nuclear energy would be the best way to bring about security. "No other country is phasing nuclearenergy out as fast as Germany. While elsewhere the operating life of nuclear power plants is scheduled to be extended to 60 years, the average operating life of German nuclear power plants is another12 years from now", added the Federal Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin.
The German government and the utility companies agreed on putting a regulated end to the use of nuclear energy. The companies involved respect the government's decision to re-evaluate the risks ofnuclear energy. The Federal government pledged to guarantee regular operation up to the time of decommissioning provided that the safety provisions of the Act are complied with.
For every nuclear power plant, a maximum quantity for residual electricity generation is stipulated by the new law. However, the quantities allocated to older nuclear power plants can betransferred to newer plants. In anticipation of the regulation, EON announced that they would decommission their Stade nuclear power plant in 2003 - before the date of expiry for its operationlicence. Licences for new power plants may no longer be issued, the promotion clause for nuclear energy was cancelled.
The operators of nuclear power plants are obliged to provide intermediate waste repositories near the sites of the plants. This allows the disposal burden to be more fairly distributed among theLänder and eases demand on the central intermediate storage sites in Gorleben and Ahaus. Establishing intermediate waste repositories and banning the transport of spent fuel to reprocessingplants abroad as of July 2005 will lead to a drastic decrease in the transport of hazardous nuclear substances. In practical terms, the transport of nuclear substances will be limited to the returnof German nuclear waste from reprocessing plants. The Federal government is obliged to take back all the nuclear waste that is being stored abroad.
Responding to the opposition party's announcement that they plan to reverse the phase out Trittin commented "If the restrictions on operating time were lifted, the general risks of using nuclearenergy would remain for an indefinite period. The use of nuclear energy is accompanied by risks that could have unpredictable consequences should an accident occur."
The Federal Environment Minister pointed out that a return to nuclear energy would also mean an end the new direction in energy policy. He explained that this new direction could prove that alarge industrial nation can prosper without electricity generated from nuclear energy, especially if this nation aims at expanding its pioneering role in climate protection. He emphasized: "We wantto start an energy policy for the future. We want to make it a seamless policy. Renewable energy sources, more energy efficiency, saving energy and phasing out nuclear energy are all elements of aresponsible and sustainable energy policy."