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Nuclear energy looking uneconomic in Germany

The government’s plans to impose taxes on nuclear power plant operators are part of a package–totaling around EUR82 billion between 2011 and 2014–to cut public budget deficits. The duty on nuclear fuel rods is expected to contribute EUR2.3 billion in tax income each year…..

German Utilities Warn Fuel Tax May Herald End Of Nuclear Energy – WSJ.com, By Jan Hromadko, Dow Jones Newswires; AUGUST 12, 2010, FRANKFURT  -Germany’s plan to tax the fuel used to fire nuclear power plants could make reactors unprofitable and hasten the country’s exit from atomic energy generation, the country’s leading utilities have warned…… Juergen Grossmann, chief executive of RWE AG (RWE.XE), said Thursday. His comments were a latest from reactor operators who are fiercely opposing the tax plan……The government’s plans to impose taxes on nuclear power plant operators are part of a package–totaling around EUR82 billion between 2011 and 2014–to cut public budget deficits. The duty on nuclear fuel rods is expected to contribute EUR2.3 billion in tax income each year…..

The nuclear tax plan is tied to an ongoing debate about extending the operating lives of nuclear reactors, a move favored by utilities.

Germany is in the process of gradually phasing out all of its remaining 17 nuclear reactors by around 2022, ………..
The government’s tax plan has weighed on the share prices of Germany’s utilities. Since the government first proposed the nuclear fuel rod tax on June 7, RWE and E.ON have underperformed the Euro Stoxx Utilities index by around seven and five percentage points respectively.

At 1139 GMT RWE shares traded lower EUR0.50 or 0.9% at EUR53.69. E.ON shares were up EUR0.13 or 0.6% at EUR23.24 in a broadly flat market.

August 14, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Germany | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, reactors