Bavarian Minister‑President Markus Söder (CSU) has proposed building modern small nuclear power plants in the state, a plan that has drawn sharp criticism from both the Greens and the SPD.
Julia Verlinden, deputy chair of the Greens’ parliamentary group, called the proposal in the “Rheinische Post” (Monday issue) “a particularly costly and risky technology that solves no problems but creates new ones”. She stressed that the solution for energy sovereignty, reliability, local value‑creation and low electricity prices is already known: renewable energy. “Renewables are also the most popular source of energy in Bavaria and could immediately contribute more to our supply” she added.
The SPD refuses to support Söder’s idea. Nina Scheer, the SPD Bundestag spokesperson on energy policy, described the proposals as “absurd”. She warned that a return to nuclear energy would contravene German law and that the SPD would not participate in any “spectral” amendment of the law. Scheer argued that nuclear power is the most expensive form of energy, dependent on massive direct and indirect state subsidies, and remains a high‑risk technology regardless of plant size. In light of the escalating military conflicts worldwide, she called nuclear plans a “raving spectral adventure” from a security‑political perspective.
She noted that small reactors are riskier than large ones because they require more safety measures at multiple sites and produce many times more nuclear waste. According to Scheer, they are neither deployable nor economically or resource‑technically viable today. She cited the discontinuation of U.S. pilot projects for small reactors, citing high costs and construction delays. “Renewables are already the cheapest form of energy generation” she reaffirmed.
Söder had previously reiterated his long‑standing view that Germany must return to nuclear power in the “Bild am Sonntag”.