Last month, German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche opted to join a meeting with pro-nuclear European Union members instead of attending a gathering of states dedicated to renewables, marking a major fracturing of the German government’s stance on the future of European energy. A 2024 report from The Conversation explains that Germany’s complete phase-out of nuclear energy production “can only be understood in the context of post-war socio-political developments in Germany, where anti-nuclearism predated the public climate discourse.” According to that report, vehement anti-nuclear discourse of the time can be credited to “a distrust of technocracy; ecological, environmental and safety fears; suspicions that nuclear energy could engender nuclear proliferation; and general opposition to concentrated power (especially after its extreme consolidation under the Nazi dictatorship).” Just last month, the World Bank overturned its own ban on funding nuclear energy projects, a move that will spread the reach of nuclear energy in the developing world and likely influence other development banks to follow suit.
Author: Haley Zaremba
Published at: 2025-07-02 21:00:00
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