Siehe auch:
[Rezension] Daniel Gräber - Akte Atomausstieg - Die Motivation
The 2025 book "Nuclear Phase-Out Files - The End of Nuclear Power and the Failure of the Energy Transition" is authored by journalist and writer Daniel Gräber.
Gräber is a journalist specializing in investigative reporting who previously caused a stir between 2017 and 2019 with his publications exposing corruption within the Workers Welfare Association (Arbeiterwohlfahrt/AWO) in Frankfurt am Main.
See also:
[Domestic Policy] #Arbeiterwohlfahrt #AWO - How a Welfare Association in Frankfurt was looted
In 2024 Gräber once again caused a stir with his revelations when internal files from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs under Robert Habeck (Greens) were released following a successful legal challenge.
The book "Nuclear Phase-Out Files" thus serves as a continuation and expansion of his previous reporting.
In 2025 Gräber moved from the magazine Cicero to Apollo News.
[2]
[3]
[4]
In addition to the revelations drawn from the files obtained through litigation Gräber also examines the motivations behind the nuclear phase-out in his book. Gräber describes a dynamic in which Germany’s Green Party consistently sought out opportunities to take responsibility in order to drive the nuclear phase-out forward. In this context the decision to phase out nuclear power appears to be grounded more in ideological motivation than in sober and rational consideration. Furthermore Gräber asserts that in the process the Green Party succeeded in shifting the positions of other parties to align with its own position.
Soft Energy Paths
Gräber identifies Amory Lovins' 1978 book "Soft Energy Paths: Toward a Durable Peace" as the cornerstone of the drive toward the energy transition. According to Gräber nowhere has the subject of energy supply become as ideologically and politically charged as it has in Germany largely due to the influence of "Soft Energy Paths". [1, p.22-27]
Lovins he notes distincts between "good" and "bad" energy. On one hand there are threatening and uncontrollable sources such as nuclear power and on the other are soft and nature aligned sources such as wind and solar energy. This normative assessment however is based upon factors such as CO2 emissions and the scale of the respective power plants. Consequently decentralized energy supply has come to be romanticized in an uncritical manner. [1, p.22-27]
Nevertheless the utilization of low-carbon energy sources as a bridging technology—paving the way toward a carbon-free energy supply is advocated. Beyond mere technological shifts "Soft Energy Paths" also champions a fundamental change in human behavior. It calls upon individuals to practice self-denial and to renounce both economic growth and capitalism. Furthermore the book argues that energy should be consumed for production and consumed only when it is available rather than the other way around. [1, p.22-27]
The Long March towards the Energy Transition State
Gräber begins his analysis by naming politician Ralf Fücks (Greens) and his role in protests during the reactor occupations of the 1970s.
But according to Gräber for the Greens the nuclear phase-out was even early merely a pretext for the struggle against capitalism.
Furthermore Gräber mentions politicians Jürgen Trittin (The Greens) and Joschka Fischer (The Greens).
These party members played a leading role in occupying construction sites intended for the construction of nuclear power plants in order to delay or even prevent their construction.
Moreover members of the party the Greens also allied themselves with like-minded farmers who were concerned about the impact of nuclear power plants on their land.
In doing so the party reportedly garnered support extending beyond its own traditional milieu for the very first time.
Consequently the fight against nuclear power holds a position of significant importance within the party.
Following electoral successes and participation in government coalitions the strategy shifted toward combating nuclear power through the strict interpretation and tightening of safety standards.
However this approach reportedly proved insufficiently effective as nuclear power remained highly profitable thereby enabling operators to afford numerous retrofits.
[1, p.7-10
, p.13-20]
Der Kampf gegen die Atomkraft war konstituierend für die Partei,
Jürgen Trittin (Die Grünen)
The fight against nuclear power was constitutive for the party,
Jürgen Trittin (The Greens) [1, p.13]
According to Gräber the party has succeeded in making the phase-out of nuclear energy in Germany the only viable option.
Instead of debating nuclear energy with an open mind the discussion now revolves solely around the question of how quickly Germany should exit nuclear power.
In 2000 while serving in a coalition government with the SPD the coalition government decided to phase out nuclear energy.
And in 2010 the then government comprising the CDU/CSU and FDP merely decided to extend the operating lifetimes of German nuclear power plants.
Following the catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan in 2011 several older nuclear power plants were immediately taken offline.
[1, p.52-57
, p.57-61]
Gräber explains how in the 1987 book "Wer mit wem in Atomstaat und Großindustrie (Who with Who in the Nuclear State and Big Industry)" political parties are described as "power-acquisition groups".
And these "power-acquisition groups" derive their power by integrating specific economic interests into the state administration.
In 2012 USA billionaire Hal Harvey and the head of the Mercator Foundation which was established by heirs to the Metro retail group founded the think tank Agora Energiewende (Agora Energy Transition).
Rainer Baake (Greens) served as State Secretary under Federal Minister for the Environment Trittin (Greens) and became the founding director of Agora Energiewende in 2012.
After Baake (Greens) became State Secretary under Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) Patrick Graichen became the new director of Agora Energiewende in 2014.
And in 2021 Graichen (The Greens) went on to become State Secretary under Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck (Greens) a position he held until losing his office in 2023 in the wake of the "Groomsman- or Usher-Affair".
According to Gräber the boundary between energy transition bureaucrats and energy transition lobbyists has thus become blurred.
Consequently the party the Greens has succeeded in becoming the very thing it once fought against.
As a "power-acquisition group" they managed to render the phase-out of nuclear energy and the advancement of the energy transition the only conceivable option.
[1, p.52-57
, p.66-70]
Preview:
Src:
[1] Daniel Gräber - Akte Atomausstieg - Das Ende der Kernkraft und das Scheitern der Energiewende ISBN 978-3-451-07341-0
[2] Habecks Geheimakten: Wie die Grünen beim Atomausstieg getäuscht haben 2024-12-21
https://www.cicero.de/innenpolitik/meistgelesene-artikel-2024-april-habecks-geheimakten-wie-die-grunen-beim-atomausstieg-getauscht-haben
[3] Cicero: Daniel Gräber
https://www.cicero.de/autoren/daniel-gr%C3%A4ber
[4] Apollo News: Daniel Gräber
https://apollo-news.net/author/daniel-graeber/
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