A German newspaper reported on Monday that Germany’s governing coalition may shut down the country’s commercial nuclear plants earlier than expected.
German business newspaper Handelsblatt, quoting unnamed senior government officials, said Chancellor Angela Merkel is pressing government ministers to set an exact date when the plants will be taken offline. Merkel previously supported legislation that would extend the life of Germany’s 17 commercial nuclear plants by 12 years, but she reversed that position in March following the multiple-reactor accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi.
Under a decision from the prior government led by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, the plants would be closed permanently by 2022 or 2023. According to Handelsblatt, Merkel pushed for an earlier date during a meeting last week with Germany’s environment minister. An earlier decommissioning date would change the country’s licensing system, which currently determines reactors’ lives based on the amount of electricity they have produced.