Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder (CSU) has called for the construction of new, small nuclear power plants to promote Germany's economic recovery. The federal government wants to build gas-fired power plants and expand renewable energies, overlooking the fact that "all of this is highly subsidised. We are pushing down energy prices with government money instead of focusing on cheap production," Söder told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper (published on Saturday).
‘We need to change course on these issues so that the economy can recover,’ demanded the CSU leader. He said that new, smaller nuclear power plants, known as mini reactors, needed to be built. ‘It's not about building large reactors like in the past. I'm talking about smaller, smart reactors, such as those already in use in Canada. Switzerland and other European countries are working on this. These mini reactors do not need the kind of subsidies that were necessary in the past,’ Söder continued in an interview with ‘Wams’.
The Bavarian head of government also called for the mining of rare earths in Germany to be ‘seriously examined’ and implemented ‘if possible and worthwhile’. In addition, domestic gas reserves should be tapped. ‘The Federal Office for Geosciences has been saying for years that there is gas for decades to come. But we are refraining from using the reserves in northern Germany and instead importing expensive LNG from the USA,’ said Söder.
He also criticised the SPD-led Federal Environment Ministry. "In the Federal Environment Ministry, a lot of things are still tied to old Green dogmas. For years, the strategic line has been shaped by people who come from precisely this milieu. I would like to see more emancipation from the old Trittin school and more modern environmental policy instead,‘ said Söder. ’Minister Carsten Schneider is open to discussion. But the apparatus often works on autopilot according to the motto: it doesn't matter who the minister is below me," he added.
Green Party politician Jürgen Trittin was Environment Minister from 1998 to 2005 and helped negotiate the phase-out of nuclear power in 2000.
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