Germany's nuclear engineering lobby on Wednesday said up to half a dozen nuclear power stations could in theory be reopened despite closing in 2023 as a result of Berlin's decision to exit nuclear power, as the next government looks to secure cheaper energy.
Germany's conservatives, winners of the February election, said resuming nuclear power generation was an option to tackle high power prices and rising dependency on electricity imports, most notably from nuclear-reliant France.
The operators of the nuclear plants said, however, their closure was final.
Members of the nuclear technology lobby group include subsidiaries of Westinghouse and Framatome as well as part-German owned nuclear engineering services company Nukem.
“The recommissioning of up to six nuclear power plants is technically possible ... The quicker the decision is made, the less money it costs and the sooner the baseload-securing, climate-friendly plants can rejoin the grid,” the KernD group said in a statement.
Investment of between €1bn (R19.81bn) and €3bn (R59.43bn) per station could pay for recommissioning, it added.