Analysis: Why the call for a return to nuclear energy is nonsense

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A specter is haunting Europe. This time, however, it is not that of communism. Last week, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, described the nuclear phase-out as a strategic mistake for Europe and advocated for a return to the controversial form of energy.

Von der Leyen argued that Europe is "neither an oil nor a gas producer." "With fossil fuels, we are completely dependent on expensive and volatile imports," she said. Overall, electricity prices are "structurally too high." So-called Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), small, modular nuclear power plants – according to the definition of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), they supply up to about 300 megawatts, while Biblis had about 2.5 gigawatts – are intended to take over part of the energy supply in the future. In the USA, the hype around corresponding start-ups like Bill Gates-funded Terrapower is in full swing.

An analysis by Werner Pluta

Werner Pluta began his career as a cultural journalist in the mid-1990s and discovered the internet shortly thereafter. Since then, he has preferred to write about computers, science, and technology, or to test-drive electric cars across the country. Having switched back and forth between print and online journalism, as well as between freelance and staff positions, he has been writing for heise online since January 2025.

Support came immediately from within her party: "Ursula von der Leyen is right – phasing out nuclear power was a mistake," Gitta Connemann, chairwoman of the Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsunion (MIT), seconded in the news magazine Der Spiegel. CSU leader Markus Söder did not want to be left behind and announced in the tabloid Bild grandly: "Bavaria is ready for a pilot project" – more precisely: for the construction of such a novel small nuclear power plant.

Tell me where you stand

Now, arguments about nuclear power quickly become ideological: Tell me how you feel about nuclear power, and I'll tell you which way you're going. But that's not necessary at all. A mere glance at the numbers shows the absurdity of the demand for a return to nuclear power.

The generation costs for nuclear electricity, i.e., the pure production costs, are according to a study by the German Institute for Economic Research from 2023 between 184 and 504 euros per megawatt-hour – or 18 to 50 cents per kilowatt-hour. End consumers currently pay according to the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) an average of about 37 cents for the kilowatt-hour from the socket. However, the price already includes taxes and levies, totaling almost 13 cents, as well as the margin for the energy supplier.

It is therefore surprising that Connemann, of all people, is calling for the return of nuclear power. As chairwoman of the MIT, she should represent the concentrated economic know-how that the Union parties like to boast about. Especially since the small and medium-sized enterprises she represents – the backbone of the German economy – are lamenting the high energy costs. The suspicion arises that this is indeed about ideology and not economic efficiency.

Anyone who truly argues economically should demand to build even more wind turbines and solar parks: The generation costs for a kilowatt-hour of onshore wind power are estimated by the energy provider EnBW depending on the location at about 4 cents to 9 cents per kilowatt-hour. Offshore facilities are more complex to build, which is why the electricity is slightly more expensive: the kilowatt-hour costs almost 6 to about 10 cents to generate. A kilowatt-hour of solar power is available for 4 to 14 cents.

In any case, nuclear electricity was never competitive, as a study by the Technical University of Berlin published in 2025 has shown. Nuclear power has been state-subsidized from the beginning. It is difficult to estimate how much state money has actually flowed into nuclear energy over the decades. In 2021, the scientific service of the Bundestag named in a documentation "a subsidy amount of a total of 112.1 billion euros (nominal) or 169.4 billion euros (real)" between 1955 and 2022. These were purely budget-effective subsidies. The actual subsidy amount is likely to be significantly higher. Some estimates go up to almost 300 billion euros (real).