Germany Finally Admits Nuking Its Energy Sector For No Reason Was A Bad Idea

Germany’s political leadership is finally conceding that shutting down the country’s nuclear power plants was a costly mistake.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz admitted Wednesday that the country’s nuclear phase-out was a “serious strategic mistake,” telling business leaders that the country no longer has sufficient energy generation capacity. Speaking to the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Merz said Germany — which still aims to reach “net-zero” emissions by 2045 — is now paying the price of the decision through higher costs and heavy government intervention.

“It was a serious strategic mistake to phase out nuclear energy … we simply don’t have enough energy generation capacity,” Merz said, according to Brussels Signal.

“To have acceptable market prices for energy production again, we would have to permanently subsidise energy prices from the federal budget,” Merz said, adding, “We can’t do this in the long run.”

Former Prime Minister Angela Merkel decided in 2011 to eventually shutter the country’s nuclear power plants after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown in Japan. Over the next decade, Germany dismantled its nuclear infrastructure, taking the final three reactors offline in April 2023