In 2023, Germany will officially retire from the era of nuclear power. On March 8, 2022, the Greens' Economy Minister Habeck and Environment Minister Lemke held a press conference and said that it was not advisable to "extend the operation of the last three nuclear power plants" due to the "low efficiency" of operating the last three nuclear power plants. The three nuclear power plants should cease operations on time for March 31, 2023. Although later Chancellor Olaf Scholz issued a directive to briefly extend the period of operation of the nuclear power plant until April 15. Eventually, however, Germany withdrew from nuclear power.
However, the German political magazine Cicero recently published an internal document that suddenly revealed that Habeck appeared to have made the final decision to withdraw from nuclear weapons in a blinded situation. Energy experts from the Ministry of Economy concluded on March 3, 2022, five days before the press conference, that the operation of the nuclear power plant should continue to be extended.
"Electricity prices are likely to fall in the short term due to the 'lower variable costs' of continuing to operate the last three nuclear power plants," the minutes of the meeting on March 3, 2022, read. Rationale: Nuclear power is one of the cheapest types of electricity and often replaces gas-fired power plants, which are more expensive to produce. ”
In addition, "it is not clear whether enough gas will be stored for next winter, if not, we will need enough power plants to meet the load, and it will not be enough to run power plants on natural gas alone." ”
Veronika Grimm, an energy expert and a member of the federal government's advisory board at the time, also pointed out in a study the effect of the shutdown of nuclear power plants on the price increase and calculated the magnitude of it.
Grimm also shared Habeck's expert department's assessment: "It will be extremely dangerous to replenish natural gas power generation next winter only with additional generation from standby and decommissioned coal-fired power plants. Experts warn that the status of the current decommissioned power plants is even more unknown because of their age, low availability and repeated failures due to their age, low availability and repeated failures. ”
Most importantly, there is nothing in the decisive conclusions of the above-mentioned minutes to justify the phase-out of nuclear.
On March 1, 2022, the energy expert in charge of the Ministry of Environment also wrote: "The continued operation of nuclear power plants is in line with 'nuclear safety'. That is, there are no safety problems with nuclear power plants. The note, created on March 1, discusses three "tolerable" scenarios for the continued operation of a nuclear power plant.
But the passage was deleted by Gerrit Niehaus, director of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection at the Ministry of the Environment. Niehaus is an anti-nuclear veteran who worked for ten years at the green-led Ministry of Environment in Baden-Württemberg and since 2021 at the Federal Environment's Nuclear Regulatory Authority (Section S "Nuclear Safety, Radiation Protection").
Five days later, Habeck and Environment Minister Stefi Lemke concluded at a press conference: "[Experts] do not recommend extending the service life of the three nuclear power plants." It was the above-mentioned report of the conference, cited by Habeck, that announced the end of the German nuclear age --- the prolongation of the use of nuclear power plants. However, the German press believes that "the minutes of the meeting of the experts, apparently sent to Habeck, were falsified."
An investigation by the German media found a suspicious name - Patrick Graichen, former state secretary of the Ministry of Economy.
Because Niehaus sent Gretchen the deletion of key information, based on distorted facts, Gretchen concluded that it was not advisable to extend the life of the nuclear power plant.
Patrick Gretchen and Habeck
When questioned by the German media, the Ministry of Economy said that the minutes of the meeting of the experts at that time were compiled by State Secretary Patrick Gretchen, and that Habeck did not know anything but the results. And Gretchen's important information comes from Niehaus, which is interlocking, and Habeck made the decision to withdraw from the nuclear force.
In an interview with German media, the chairman of the CDU's parliamentary group, Span, said: "The closure of the nuclear power plant was clearly carried out with great ideological energy. The Greens consciously put their own well-being above the well-being of the country. And then this is hidden from the public. “
Some additions
Patrick Gretchen was promoted from the climate lobby group Agora Energiewende to the post of state secretary at the Ministry of Economy, and Patrick Gretchen's sister, Verena Graichen, is vice-president of the German Federation for Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) and is at the German Ecological Institute with another brother, Jacob Graichen (Öko-Institut).
According to German media, Patrick Gretchen took office in his first year, the German Ecological Institute obtained a government contract worth 3.5 million euros from the Ministry of Economy, and Verena Gretchen married another secretary of state, Michael Kellner, who also came from the Ministry of Economy.
In April 2022, Michael Schäfer took up the post of head of the German Energy Agency, and it was later verified that Schäfer was the best man for Patrick Gretchen when he got married.
The Greens' "nepotism" in the Ministry of Economy was one of Habeck's scandals last year.
According to the German media, Patrick Gretchen was also one of the initiators of Habeck's insistence on not listening to expert opinions.
It doesn't matter whether Habeck is really blinded or has found a backbiter, after all, the coal power plant is thriving.