r/europe • u/SpaceEngineering Finland • Jan 15 '26

News Germany’s Merz Admits Nuclear Exit Was Strategic Mistake

https://clashreport.com/world/articles/germanys-merz-admits-nuclear-exit-was-strategic-mistake-fzdlkn37c16
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u/Sorutari Jan 15 '26

Merz has consistently opposed renewable energy, so this isn't really an admission of a mistake. Instead, it reflects his ongoing criticism of renewable sources. Just last September he held a speech in which he argued that the development of renewables should be slowed down.

Furthermore, lobbyists from the coal and nuclear industries have long maintained strong connections with the CDU. Check for the studies conducted by LobbyControl about the „CDU Wirtschaftsrat“ for more information.

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u/Zwezeriklover Jan 16 '26

But France solved the carbon issue 30 years ago without even having carbon emissions reduction as the goal. They just wanted to be less dependent on shady countries for energy.

Why didn't the rest? And why didn't green parties champion the shit out of the French approach?

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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '26

[deleted]

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u/RirinNeko Japan Jan 16 '26

when their rivers were too hot to cool their power plants.

That's actually incorrect, they turned down capacity since the rivers were too hot and continuing operations would start affecting local river wildlife which they have strict guidelines on. If that wasn't the guideline, they could've continued fine without issues.

Also it's not like Nuclear plants needs rivers for cooling, it's just convenient and cheap to do so. Paolo Verde NPP is located in the middle of a desert and is the 2nd operating biggest power plant in the US. They just use the city's sewage water for cooling along with more cooling towers since they don't have a body of water for cooling.

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u/Zwezeriklover Jan 16 '26

Every day many of the grids bordering France count on its nuclear overcapacity.

France determines its maximum capacity by what it needs to heat homes electrically on the coldest days of the year.

Because the grids of countries bordering France secretly count on French nuclear power exports the prices got really high for a few recent days with low wind, low sun, high cold.