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Politics
Energy groups unwilling to foot the bill alone for disposal
Peter Terium has cited German politics as co-respondent in the multi-million Euro costs ensuing from the country’s decision not to pursue its nuclear energy programme. Responsibility is not merely of the companies involved. Any initiative that leads away from the use of nuclear power must also be sustainable for the companies. There was a time when politics channelled the country’s need for energy towards nuclear power, notes the chairman of RWE, and nuclear power willingly played ball because of the revenue involved. Initially, this revenue was needed to pay for investments and then to set up reserves as a bulwark against the cost of waste disposal. The four groups involved in the nuclear programme, RWE, E.ON, Vattenfall and EnBW set aside a combined total of 37 thousand million Euros to pay for the demolition of the nuclear power stations and the disposal of the radioactive waste, but as of now, it is uncertain that this will be sufficient. On the other hand, it is feared that the undermining of industrial strength caused by the shift in energy sourcing may make the reserves insecure. The federal government instead maintains that unlimited responsibility for shut-down and demolition of nuclear power stations lies with the companies who managed them.