On Saturday, Germany switched off its last three functioning nuclear power plants — Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim 2 — as a part of the country's nuclear phase-out policy.
"Bavaria demands that the federal government devolve the right to further use of nuclear energy to the federal states. Until the crisis ends and the transition to renewable energy sources is not successfully completed, we must use all kinds of energy until the end of the decade," Soeder told German newspaper, adding that "it is unthinkable that the country of engineers, such as Germany, voluntarily forfeits any claim to shape the future and be internationally competitive."
The rest of Europe is betting on climate-friendly nuclear energy, with only the German Greens acting blindly in energy policy, thus causing damage to climate protection and the economy and posing threat to the country's prosperity, the politician stressed.
It is also necessary to develop a national research strategy for the further use of nuclear waste, Soeder added.
The Bavarian leader also pointed out that it is important to present an emergency plan for immediately reactivating the three switched-off nuclear power plants in case of a harsh winter.
In 2011, following the nuclear disaster in Japan's Fukushima, the German government decided to completely replace nuclear energy as too risky. Immediately after the incident, all German nuclear power plants launched before 1980 were switched off. Those were Biblis A and B, Brunsbuettel, Isar 1, Neckarwestheim 1, Unterweser and Philippsburg 1.
In December 2021, three more nuclear power plants — Grohnde, Gundremmingen C and Brokdorf —were shut down.