That is not quite correct. There was a lot of discussion about the coal plant in question (Datteln 4). It is ready built, but might not have gotten into the operation at all. In the end, it seems it goes into production replacing some very old east german coal plants which get shut down early. Supposedly, the new plant is cleaner and more efficient than the aged cold plants it replaces. Usage of coal in Germany is in a strong decline, as CO2 certificates and the carbon tax are making it less and less attractive for the power companies.
Closing the nuclear power plants certainly increases the challenges in becinung CO2 neutral, but we are talking about aging power plants which would have to be closed pretty soon anyway.
Which is an even bigger problem for France, its fleet of reactors is approaching the end of the life time and there are not enough new reactors being built to replace the aging reactors. So the reduction of nuclear energie is the direct consequence of that, independant of ecological concerns.
> So the reduction of nuclear energie is the direct consequence of that
Not for now, Fessenheim wasn't closed because of its age evaluated by the French ASN, but because of the assessment of the risks of its age by the French EELV party, politicians.
Not sure what you mean by "not of its age" when it was the oldest operating reactor in France and the one with the worst security precautions. There was also a significant amount of pressure from the German side (main affected by a possible large accident) about its safety.
But yes, I was mostly speaking about the future - as the ramp up of renewables is rather slow in France, of course they try to keep their reactors running as long as possible. But this only delays the inevitable.
Yes, but they could probably be safely delaid by decades.
You don't close a reactor because it is the oldest or the worst security, you close if its security doesn't or can't meet some criterias.
> There was also a significant amount of pressure from the German side (main affected by a possible large accident) about its safety.
Well another accident, not highly hypothetical, is happening right now : German coal plants polute our air, leading to thounsands of deaths yearly, and contributes to climate change with certainty.
My understanding is, that there are some big safety concerns with that power plant. As are with others still operating (Tihange).
Yes, I am very unhappy with the amount of coal being burnt in Germany and I fully support a quicker exit from that. Fortunately, it is strongly declining, but it could be faster.
Closing the nuclear power plants certainly increases the challenges in becinung CO2 neutral, but we are talking about aging power plants which would have to be closed pretty soon anyway.
Which is an even bigger problem for France, its fleet of reactors is approaching the end of the life time and there are not enough new reactors being built to replace the aging reactors. So the reduction of nuclear energie is the direct consequence of that, independant of ecological concerns.