German nuclear power plants operators EON and RWE have dismissed calls by politicians to restart their decommissioned reactors.

“We see no economically viable way to return the nuclear power plants in Germany,” EON’s chief financial officer Nadia Jakobi said in a call with analysts.

RWE’s chief executive officer Markus Krebber said it was “very, very unlikely that we’re going to bring them back”, citing missing permits, qualified personnel and economic viability as hurdles.

In a recent energy policy paper (German only), CDU and Christian Social Union (CSU) politicians outlined their energy policy priorities for the country’s future, ahead of the next federal election, scheduled for autumn 2025.