2004 Meeting on nuclear technology: Opening address

The public debate about the peaceful use of nuclear power has subsided thanks to the agreement reached between the electricity utilities and the German Federal Government. This agreement, and its supervision by the Monitoring Group, have proved to work so far. The federal government's commitment to implementing the agreement must be stressed. By and large, the operation of nuclear power plants is free from political disturbance. This applies in particular to ensuring the management of spent fuel elements in nuclear power plants. There is no longer any need to be concerned about nuclear power plants being clogged up with spent fuel element not removed. The complete change of course in the final storage of radioactive waste as planned by Federal Minister for the Environment Jurgen Trittin must be rejected. Under this new concept, there would be only one repository for all types of radioactive waste, and the site selection procedure would be started all over again; in addition, it foresees transfer of the duty to establish a repository from the federal government to an association which the operators of nuclear power plants would be compelled to join. Instead, implementation of the licensed Konrad repository project must be started as soon as possible, and exploration of the Gorleben salt dome must be continued. The plans of the Federal Ministry for the Environment are neither justified in fact nor responsible from the points of view of the economy and waste management policy. The nuclear option should be kept open also in Germany, also in the light of international developments, for instance, with plants being licensed to operate for up to sixty years, and in view of the positive perspectives of nuclear power in neighbouring countries. The questions of climate protection and of the power plants to be built in Germany by 2020, by which date approximately 40,000 MW of generating capacity will have been lost, require appropriate responses and solutions.