In 2000 the German government, formed by the SPD and Alliance’90 / Greens, officially announced his intentions to abandon nuclear energy. J RGEN Trittin (Greens of Germany) as Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, reached an agreement with energy companies for the gradual stop of the 19 nuclear reactors that the country possesses, and the cessation of civil of nuclear energy by 2020. Based on the load time of 32 years of normal operation of the reactor, the agreement stipulates precisely how much energy is allowed to generate a plant before its closure.
Stade reactor Obrigheim were closed and the 14 November 2003 to May 11, 2005 respectively. The beginning of their dismantling is scheduled for 2007. It is possible that the reactors could be put back into operation by the newly elected government led by the Democratic Unionist Party.
The anti-nuclear activists criticized the agreement because they believe it’s a guarantee that an operation abandonment of nuclear energy. They also argue that the time limit for abandonment of nuclear power is too broad and that the agreement only prohibits the construction of commercial nuclear power plants and is not applicable to the use of nuclear scientist, who has since started its operation, or facilities for uranium enrichment. Moreover, it is not immediately banned the reprocessing of nuclear fuel, but was allowed until mid 2005.
A new law for renewable energy sources believe a new tax to support renewable energy. The German government, which states that climate protection is a key issue of its policy, announced a target of reducing CO2 emissions by 25 compared to 1990. In 1998, renewables reach the 284 PJ of primary energy demand, which corresponds to 5 of total electricity demand. By 2010 the government raised reach 10 .
The anti-nuclear activists argue that the German government has supported the use of nuclear energy by giving financial guarantees to suppliers. They also argue that so far there are no plans for the final storage of nuclear waste. And believe that tightening the regulations on safety and increasing taxes would have forced a more rapid abandonment of nuclear energy. Another issue is that the closure was made at the expense of concessions on security duty to transport nuclear waste throughout Germany. This has been denied by the Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
Critics of the plans to abandon nuclear energy in Germany argue that nuclear power can not be compensated for, and predict an energy crisis, and argues that only coal or oil could compensate for the nuclear energy, a tremendous increase emissions CO2. Should also increase imports of electricity, so that there would be ironic of nuclear power generated in France or Russian natural gas, which some perceive as a non-insurance provider.