Indeed. I wonder what are the real reasons behind these bans in German nations. Can't believe it's just for political populism, there must be something more substantial.
Chernobyl was something very substantial in germany. People knew a radioactive cloud was coming and had to stop their kids from playing outside in that year. There are still regulations up to today, that every boar meat has to be checked for radioactive contamination and they don't disclose how much has to be thrown away (boars eat mushrooms). That doesn't create a feeling of safety, even though the real risk is probably not that high anymore.
In general, you may read up on the history of the anti nuclear movement. The idea was, officials said that nuclear is totally safe - people doubted it before that and then chernobyl was the turning point for many to not believe the government at all anymore, even though there had been big demonstration before that already.
The car industry had nothing to do with that. Rather, "populism" as you call it, or rather the strong opinion of many people living in a representative democracy somehow matters.
Also, it wasn't just opinion. There were violent clashes quite often, even with deaths. Driving the cost of it all up.
Germany is a country littered with voodoo "medicine" clinics, to the point that they have even been integrated in the statutory healthcare system. You take those hippie "nature above science" people and tell them about the invisible danger rays and they will found the Green party, and the rest is history.
> Can't believe it's just for political populism, there must be something more substantial.
Can you expand on what you mean by that? Also, generalizing "German" nations like this does seem a bit odd to me. Austria has a very clear and different history with nuclear power compared to Germany where it is only recently that they vowed to get rid of nuclear. For the latter case, it very much was due to events around the Fukushima nuclear accident what contributed greatly to the decision.
Not sure about the rest, but I can definitely explain why Germany has (had) nuclear power plants and Austria doesn't: lobbying! Siemens wanted an opportunity to show off its technology, so all NPPs in West Germany were built by them. Austria didn't have such implications, so no nuclear power. Lobbying (by the strong automobile industry) is also the reason why the German autobahns still have no general speed limit and are still free to use for cars (paid by taxes of course). Austria BTW has both a speed limit and a toll for its freeways (and no domestic car manufacturers).
History has shown that German automotive industry has huge power, so things like nuclear ban, shady emission restrictions, etc. seem like just the tip of the iceberg.
german auto companies aren't that competitive in ev field and i'm not sure they want to. Thousands of ppl are working at those and that work is related to combustion engine design, switching to ev might mean a huge blow for them. Nuclear, if done like in france/japan/korea, means cheap(er) reliable electric energy which would motivate more ppl to switch to ev's and since there are other players like tesla (more popular) or something from byd (cheaper) german auto industry can be in a tough position.
Keep in mind that I'm stupid in politics and economy and I did not invest meaningful time into studying them, but:
I think generally accepted nuclear power is a literal threat to the German automotive industry.
MB, VW Group, BMW, and others are not ages ahead of Chinese manufacturers in EV sector like they are in case with ICE cars.
If Germany was so worried about accidents, wouldn't they have fights and serious arguments with the neighbors like France that is packed with nuclear fuel, plants, and the French character of seeking endless revolutions?
Germany intentionally did something that they knew will hurt its economy, there should be a very profound reason for taking such a hit. Who would be ok to take such a hit because of a "fear"?
My generalization about the German nations may be really inaccurate here, I just thought they all had a huge influence on each other (which affects lots of previous and future decisions).
The real reasons were many.
Political nuclear was always a battlefield in Germany.
Safety concerns, how long before something goes wrong.
Economy, going green and gas and eventually primarily green would be cheaper than investing billions in Nuclear.
Today it's also a question of security and with what's going on I would guess Germany has no regret that they don't have these juicy targets available anymore.
In general, you may read up on the history of the anti nuclear movement. The idea was, officials said that nuclear is totally safe - people doubted it before that and then chernobyl was the turning point for many to not believe the government at all anymore, even though there had been big demonstration before that already.
The car industry had nothing to do with that. Rather, "populism" as you call it, or rather the strong opinion of many people living in a representative democracy somehow matters.
Also, it wasn't just opinion. There were violent clashes quite often, even with deaths. Driving the cost of it all up.