Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/271682 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Citation: 
[Journal:] DIW Weekly Report [ISSN:] 2568-7697 [Volume:] 13 [Issue:] 10/11 [Year:] 2023 [Pages:] 91-100
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
In mid-April 2023, the final three nuclear power plants in Germany will be taken offline permanently. At the same time, the energy crisis resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine has fueled calls for the construction of new nuclear reactors in Germany. A similar debate is taking place in many other countries in the context of the climate crisis. Since the 1950s, nuclear power has been one of the most expensive energy sources and remains so to this day. It is also not a quick solution, as it takes decades to build reactors. Moreover, no significant technological breakthroughs are foreseeable in the development of cost-competitive reactors; this applies to both SMR concepts ("small module reactors") with lower capacity as well as for other types of reactors, such as fast breeder reactors. There is growing acceptance in the energy system modeling community, which previously predicted a substantial nuclear share while underestimating renewable energy sources due to overoptimistic assumptions, that there are no breakthroughs on the horizon.
Subjects: 
economics
energy system analysis
innovation
nuclear power
technology
JEL: 
L51
L94
Q48
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Article

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