BERLIN (Reuters) – German lawmakers must reform existing legislation in order to allow nuclear power stations to remain on standby beyond a planned exit from nuclear power at the end of this year, a spokesperson for the environment ministry said.
The spokesperson added that he expected the situation would allow enough forewarning to bring the stations online before any potential blackouts.
If they were to be brought back online, they must remain active until the end of line operation, the spokesperson said, adding that they could not be turned off and on “like coffee machines”.
Following a plunge in energy imports from Russia, the government announced on Monday that Germany will keep two of its three remaining nuclear plants available for power production as part of a reserve scheme to avoid possible power shortages.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Rachel More; Editing by Miranda Murray)
