NUCLEAR-POWER IN GERMAN ELECTRICITY SUPPLY

For many years, the power supply situation in Germany had been ruled by a fundamental consensus about the use of coal and nuclear power, which was given up in 1986 when the Social Democratic Party (SPD) decided to opt out of nuclear power. This robbed the electricity utilities of a reliable basis for longterm investment decisions. Not one new nuclear power plant has been built since Neckar-2 was commissioned in 1989. Even the consensus round was unable in 1993 to establish a new common base. Public acceptance needs to be built up again before this will be possible. The growing population of the world will require more and more energy. For this reason, nuclear power will maintain its role in the worldwide energy mix. This requires, however, that ecological and economic reason prevail also in Germany.