German poll: Majority for return to nuclear energy – DW – 04/04/2025
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Some 55% of Germans favor a reversal of nuclear policy according to a marketing poll. The issue has been a point of contention between parties seeking to form a coalition government.

Summary

A new Innofact poll shows 55% of Germans support returning to nuclear power, a divisive issue influencing coalition talks between the CDU/CSU and SPD.

While 36% oppose the shift, support is strongest among men and in southern and eastern Germany.

About 22% favor restarting recently closed reactors; 32% support building new ones.

Despite nuclear support, 57% still back investment in renewables. The CDU/CSU is exploring feasibility, but the SPD and Greens remain firmly against reversing the nuclear phase-out, citing stability and past policy shifts.

  • FooBarrington@lemmy.worldEnglish
    105·
    17 hours ago

    Yeah but this is for areas that don’t get enough sun or wind to meet their energy needs.

    Which is almost nowhere. There can be intermittent issues, but those can be overcome with a larger network and grid-level storage.

    The make small scale nuclear reactors as well.

    Which are less efficient, so even more expensive.

    And cities themselves, being supplied by nuclear plants, are juicy military targets too. If a bomb lands anywhere near a city including the plant, it’s bad

    Not sure what your argument here is, because no matter what kind of energy production you’re using, bombing a city is always bad. But it’s much easier to cause great harm with nuclear than renewable generators.

    • LustyArgonian@lemmy.worldEnglish
      66·
      16 hours ago

      But renewables aren’t being replaced with this, fossil fuels are. The grid level storage is significant and requires significant mining and upkeep for that, and it’s very inefficient. We need blended energy sources for safety, with a mix of water, wind, wave, solar, geothermal, and nuclear

      • FooBarrington@lemmy.worldEnglish
        71·
        9 hours ago

        No, renewables have to be replaced by nuclear. Nuclear is incredibly expensive (the most expensive form of energy we have). If you don’t run it at capacity 100% of the time, it’s even more expensive.

        All that money can either produce a small amount of energy if we go with nuclear, or a larger amount of energy if we go with renewables.

        Grid-level storage is getting more and more efficient - a couple of years ago, the combined cost of renewables + storage got smaller than the cost of nuclear. Nuclear is still getting more expensive, whereas renewables + storage is getting cheaper and cheaper.