BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Germany's environmental group Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND) has criticized the so-called stretch operation for the last three nuclear power plants in Germany as "pure symbolic politics" and warned of possible risks. "Nuclear power is a high-risk technology - there must be no experiments," BUND chairman Olaf Bandt said, according to a statement Thursday. The stretch operation contributes "neither to the security of supply nor to the stability of the power grid" in Germany significantly. To secure the power supply, the Bundestag had approved in November the temporary continued operation of the Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland reactors until April 15, 2023.

"It is already apparent that the dilapidated reactors have massive safety deficiencies and that the planned operation raises major questions in terms of safety," Bandt continued. Dieter Majer, the former head of the division for the safety of nuclear facilities at the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, warned above all against restarting the reactors: "The start-up of a reactor is the most failure-prone phase in a nuclear power plant. There is virtually no experience for startup during stretch operation."

Such unresolved risks are in addition to the general risks of reactor operation, according to Majer. "For example, the amount of radioactive fission products is particularly high during stretch operation. In the event of a malfunction, therefore, the release of particularly high quantities of radioactive substances must be expected," he warned.

For the planned stretch operation, the Isar 2 nuclear power plant was briefly taken off the grid in October for maintenance work. According to BUND, the fuel elements at the Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland nuclear power plants will have to be rearranged for the stretch operation. For the Neckarwestheim 2 nuclear power plant, this is scheduled for the end of December, and for the Emsland nuclear power plant in mid-January./gma/DP/jha