Merkel nuclear announcement sets stage for big storm

“The government yesterday approved a far-reaching and sweeping concept for energy production in the coming decades, making our power generation the most efficient and most environmentally friendly in the world,” Merkel said Monday.

“This means that we need nuclear energy, as well as coal, as a bridge technology. I know that many people are very skeptical and critical of nuclear power, and we take these concerns completely seriously.”

Opposition parties and environmentalists have vowed to fight the planned extension in the lifetime of Germany's 17 nuclear reactors for an average of 12 years beyond the scheduled shutdown of around 2020.

But calculations in the German media indicate that the last plant will not be switched off until 2040, and critics say that operators may get away with keeping some running for even longer than that.

Merkel, 56, hopes to be able to circumvent the upper house, where her coalition lost its majority earlier this year, with the necessary legislation, but the opposition has vowed to challenge this in Germany's highest court.

Even if the extension becomes law, the Social Democrats (SPD), who with the Greens made the decision in 2000 under former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for Germany to go nuclear-free, have said they will reverse it if they win power.

Ministers arriving at Merkel's chancellery on Sunday evening were greeted by protestors waving banners and blowing whistles, and nationwide street demonstrations are planned for Sept. 18.

“I can promise the government a fiery autumn,” warned Cladia Roth, co-head of the opposition Greens, while Gregor Gysi, co-head of the far-left Die Linke party, called the extension an “error of the highest order.”

With no permanent storage site for radioactive waste in place and fears about a repetition of a disaster in Germany like the Chernobyl meltdown in Ukraine in 1986, polls indicate a majority of voters oppose an extension.

Nuclear power currently generates nearly one quarter of Germany's power, while renewables produce around 15 percent. The remainder comes from fossil fuels like coal.

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