Germany. Yesterday, November 26, 2022, more than 100 people protested against the continued operation of nuclear power plants in Germany. They held a warning blockade in front of the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant. They announced massive actions of civil disobedience in case the last three nuclear power plants should not be shut down even on April 15, 2023.

This threat certainly exists. In Germany, there are strong political forces that continue to back nuclear power. Their efforts to revive nuclear power must be seen in the context of the discussion about an independent European nuclear armament. The German government announced its intention to take a leadership role in the militarization of Europe. And how will Germany be able to assert its claim for leadership without having its own nuclear industry? Nuclear power plants for electricity production make no sense – far too expensive and unreliable. But building nuclear power plants makes sense as a cross-subsidy for the production of nuclear weapons, nuclear submarines and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. In Europe as well as in India.

After Fukushima, Germany had decided to phase out nuclear power for the second time. The last three nuclear power plants were to go off the grid on Dec. 31, 2022. Because of allegedly possible electricity shortages in the winter of 2022/23, it was decided to extend the operating lives. The outage of very many nuclear power plants in France plays a major role in this. This is not because France will not be able to supply nuclear power, but because its ailing nuclear industry makes France dependent on imported electricity, as it has been in the past years.