Germany to Shut Second Nuclear Plant Weds
Date: 11-May-05
Country: GERMANY
Utility EnBW will disconnect its southern German 340 megawatt (MW) Obrigheim plant on May 11, a spokesman for the state of Baden Wuerttemberg said on Tuesday.
Despite the policy in Germany, nuclear power is back in vogue elsewhere in Europe as atomic reactors produce almost no greenhouse gas emissions, unlike coal and gas power stations.
EnBW had said the 18-year plant, the oldest among 18 working reactors in Germany, would be closed in the first half of May but had not given a specific date.
It will be Germany's second nuclear plant to close over the next two decades under national legislation agreed between operators and the government in the summer of 2000.
The first to close was E.ON's 672 MW Stade reactor, which was switched off in November 2003.
The Baden Wuerttemberg ministry said in a statement that the 37-year old plant would be phased out in three stages lasting until around 2020 under a programme costing around 500 million euros ($641.8 million).
The policy of phasing out nuclear is still subject to debate. Industry and political opposition want it to be reviewed but the government stands firmly by the decision.
The southern German state's environment minister Tanja Goenner said in the statement she wants a discussion on the possible lengthening of running times of EnBW's remaining nuclear facilities in Baden-Wuerttemberg.
They are the Neckarwestheim plant, with two blocks of 840 and 1,365 MW, which is scheduled to close by 2009, and Philippsburg, with two blocks of 926 MW and 1,458 MW, which is meant to shut by 2011.
The south-western German state relies on nuclear energy for 55 percent of its electricity.
Replacing lost local nuclear power with imported nuclear power from France or restarting idled coal plants did not make sense, especially if Germany wanted to meet climate protection targets, Goenner said.