A group of 20 German scientists has drafted a call to exit from the nuclear exit. The call will be published soon, initiator André Thess, professor of energy storage at the University of Stuttgart, told Die Welt. Their main argument is to avoid an energy crisis, but also to achieve climate targets.
“We demand the immediate repeal of the nuclear phase-out paragraphs and a review of the safety-related operating license to allow German nuclear power plants to continue operating,” the scientists write in the statement. “With a one-sided focus on solar, wind and natural gas, Germany has been maneuvered into energy distress,” the scientists warn.
They want to send their statement to the Bundestag’s petitions committee, which should release it for the general public to sign. If at least 50,000 supporters come together, the scientists could explain their demands in the Bundestag committee, according to the legal procedure.
The signers of the “Stuttgart Declaration” fear economic problems caused by the nuclear phase-out: “Rising energy prices and declining security of supply endanger competitiveness and prosperity,” they write. Sticking to Germany’s nuclear phase-out would put the brakes on climate protection because coal energy would be needed to secure the power supply—as is already happening in Germany.
Other researchers would add, says Professor Thess, “There is a broadening consensus in the scientific community that Germany can no longer ignore the statements of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change about nuclear energy as a climate protection technology,” he told Die Welt.
