Overview
- A draft positions paper seeks research into fourth- and fifth-generation nuclear and the introduction of small modular reactors in Germany.
- The plan outlines a domestic nuclear research push with full fuel reprocessing aimed at sharply reducing long-term radioactive waste.
- The agenda is slated for discussion January 6–8 at Kloster Seeon with guests including Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda.
- The initiative runs up against the 2023 nuclear phase-out enacted by the Bundestag, which the CSU supported in 2011, and faces cost objections from former operators citing up to about 49 cents per kWh.
- Beyond nuclear, the package proposes lowering the electricity tax, repealing the heating law, expanding bioenergy, building new gas plants, and pursuing a fusion reactor in Germany.