BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Industry President Siegfried Russwurm can in principle imagine longer running times for nuclear power plants in Germany beyond mid-April. "After all, we are currently seeing how urgently we need every kilowatt hour of electricity, especially in the winter months when there is little sun and wind," Russwurm told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. "It is difficult to communicate to our European neighbors to shut down safe power plants in the given shortage situation and at the same time demand solidarity."

The president of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) went on to say, "We still have the real stress test ahead of us in the coming months. If it goes wrong, the discussion may start again. In the end, policymakers must decide responsibly and undogmatically. Definitely, there has to be a timely analysis of how important nuclear power was for the stability of the power grid this winter." Russwurm also said he does not expect large-scale power blackouts, at most regional short-term interruptions. "That would be bad enough."

After Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) put his foot down, the German government had decided that the three remaining nuclear power plants would continue to run beyond the end of the year until April 15. After that, the use of nuclear power is to come to an end.

The FDP had initiated a debate on the continued operation of the three nuclear reactors. Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai said that the party was still in favor of extending the operating lives of the three nuclear power plants beyond April. In addition to the development of electricity prices, his party is concerned that CO2 emissions are not falling fast enough because too much coal has to be burned.

Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) criticized recurring calls by the FDP and the opposition for longer nuclear power plant lifetimes. "If we were to buy new fuel rods now, the old nuclear power plants might run for another 20 years. The risks are high, as the massive problems in France show," Bas told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (Monday)./hoe/DP/zb