Germany to switch off older nuclear reactors for now
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Berlin, Mar 15, IRNA -- Germany is to switch off temporarily seven of its older nuclear plants, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Tuesday in Berlin following her meeting with the country's state prime ministers.
All of the seven nuclear reactors, due to be closed during a three-month moratorium on plans to extend the life-spans of Germany's nuclear reactors, were built before 1980.
Meanwhile, a nuclear reactor based in north German town of Kruemmel which had been the scene of repeated technical mishaps, will remain closed.
This means that only nine out of a total of 17 nuclear reactors will actually generate electricity which account for around 23 percent of German energy needs.
The center-right government has made a radical shift in its nuclear policy after suspending plans to prolong the operating time of nuclear plants in a bid to have them undergo a safety check in the wake of Japan's nuclear catastrophe.
Merkel's government has come under intense public pressure in the aftermath of Japan's nuclear disaster ahead of key regional elections later this month.
The government coalition, comprised of Merkel's Christian Democrats and Free Democrats agreed in September to extend the life-span of the country's nuclear plants, going back on a pledge of a gradual phase-out under previous chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
In other related news, more than 90 percent of Germans say Berlin should revise its nuclear policy following the Japanese nuclear fiasco, according to a survey released by
the public television network ARD.
Furthermore, around 70 percent of Germans believe that a similar nuclear accident
like the one in Japan could also happen in their country.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Germany over the past days to
voice their opposition to nuclear energy.
German media outlets have reported extensively on the nuclear catastrophe in
Japan which has become the number one political issue in German television talk shows in recent days.
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