Energy in a dialog. The challenges facing Germany's power industry as a result of the energy turnaround

The challenges posed by the energy turnaround in Germany to the power industry and the national economy after the Fukushima events were the topic of the ''Energy in a Dialog'' meeting organized by the Deutsches Atomforum in Berlin on December 14, 2011. Dr. Ralf Gueldner, President of the Deutsches Atomforum, opened the conference by drawing attention to the real purposes of the energy turnaround, namely to prevent severe climate changes and, thus, also carbon emissions. Both nationally in Germany and worldwide, nuclear power made major contributions to achieving these goals. Referring to developments in many neighboring countries, he underlined that opting out of the use of nuclear power in Germany was not tantamount to the end of nuclear power. Reality in energy policy had to be accepted, however, namely that nuclear power played, and would go on playing, an important role in Europe. Other contributions by Dr. Juergen Grossmann (Chief Executive Officer of RWE AG), Stefan Kohler (Chairman of the Board of Management of the German Energy Agency - dena), and Prof.Dr. Felix Muesgens (Brandenburg Technical University of Cottbus, Chair of Power Economics) dealt with political and other boundary conditions required for the energy turnaround, and with the consequences and burdens on the power industry and the national economy. A final panel discussion chaired by Henning Krumrey (Wirtschaftswoche) was attended by F. Muesgens and Prof. Dr. Hans-Werner Sinn (President of the Munich-based Info Institute) and Prof. Dr. Michael Huether (German Business Institute). (orig.)