It should be an event with a signal effect, as the list of prominent participants shows. Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) will be there, as will Siegfried Russwurm, President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI). In addition, top-class company representatives such as Peter Leibinger, head of technology at the Swabian laser manufacturer Trumpf, and Vinod Philip, member of the board of directors of the DAX group Siemens Energy.
Marcus Theurer
Editor in the economy of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
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The topic that the minister and the managers want to discuss at their meeting on Monday in Berlin seemed to have already been ticked off in Germany: nuclear power as a safe and climate-friendly energy source. However, the symposium at the BDI headquarters, which is jointly organized by the Ministry of Research and industry, will not be about conventional nuclear power plants. As is well known, the last of this kind was shut down in Germany in April.
Rather, the subject of the talks in Berlin is the fusion power plants, the eternal hope of the nuclear proponents. "Nuclear fusion has the potential to revolutionize our energy supply," says Research Minister Stark-Watzinger in an interview with the F.A.S. It aims to make Germany a leading nation in nuclear fusion technology.
"Important contribution to energy supply"
In Germany, too, fusion power plants could "make an important contribution to a secure, affordable and climate-neutral energy supply," the minister hopes. Support for the plans comes from the business community. Germany as an industrial location urgently needs other clean and reliable energy sources in addition to renewables, says BDI boss Russwurm. The industry wants to help "make fusion a reality as part of a future electricity mix." The physical principle of nuclear fusion sounds captivating. Atoms are fused, releasing large amounts of energy. This process is also the sun's main source of energy.
Fusion reactors promise at least two major advantages compared to conventional nuclear power plants. Firstly, serious nuclear accidents caused by uncontrollable nuclear chain reactions, such as those in Chernobyl and Fukushima, cannot occur due to the system. Secondly, unlike nuclear fission in conventional reactors, nuclear fusion does not produce long-lived nuclear waste, and the vexing repository problem is eliminated. But there is still a long way to go from the theoretical concept to the real fusion reactor, despite decades of efforts by the researchers.
Nevertheless, Stark-Watzinger relies on this technology: "We want to send a clear signal that nuclear fusion is politically desired in Germany." This creates "reliability" and thus the prerequisite for German industrial companies to invest.
However, the enthusiasm for fusion energy varies in the Berlin traffic light coalition. In any case, Robert Habeck's Federal Ministry of Economics, led by the Greens, had no interest in participating in the symposium.
"Today, Germany is in pole position in fusion technology. Technologically, we have the best conditions to play a leading role internationally," believes FDP Minister Stark-Watzinger. "But we also have to convert the good starting position into economic benefits. The commercialization of fusion technology must take place in our country."
Billions invested in the merger
The race for the economic use of fusion technology has long since begun. Globally, it is estimated that around 5 billion dollars have been invested in fusion technology so far. Around three dozen start-up companies around the world are working on the technology.
For large German companies such as the laser world market leader Trumpf and Siemens Energy, but also for domestic nuclear start-ups such as Focused Energy from Darmstadt, Marvel Fusion and Proxima from Munich and Gauss Fusion from Hanau, the future market of nuclear fusion is to become big business. The idea sounds audacious: nuclear technology from Germany, a country that is phasing out nuclear power, is to become an export hit.