Bundes Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) denounced EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s recent comments on nuclear power. “It speaks volumes that the core of this backward strategy is new subsidies for nuclear plants” Schneider said on Tuesday. He criticised the continuation of state‑funded risk technology after a quarter‑century, arguing that better alternatives already exist. “Instead of pouring more tax money into new risky reactors, I reject that approach”.
Schneider highlighted that constructing new reactors requires significant investment that would otherwise be unavailable elsewhere. He added that the small nuclear plants Europe has been promising for decades have failed to deliver breakthroughs and instead struggle for subsidies. Even with smaller reactors, the cumulative problems only grow larger.
He stressed that clean electricity from wind and solar is cheaper and drives the energy transition forward without producing radioactive waste. For Germany, he affirmed, the focus must remain on safer, more economical alternatives. The nuclear exit has made the country safer, and the 15‑year‑old nuclear consensus has served Germany well. “We should not gamble with that” he warned.
Von der Leyen had earlier, at a nuclear summit in Paris, described Germany’s and other EU members’ withdrawal from nuclear energy as a “strategic mistake”. She simultaneously announced a new European strategy for small, modular reactors that should be operational by the early 2030s, aiming to turn Europe into a “global centre of next‑generation nuclear energy”.