nuclear-news

Merkel calls on lawmakers to back moves to end nuclear energy

Merkel Asks Lawmakers to Back Shift From Nuclear NYT, By JUDY DEMPSEY June 9, 2011 BERLIN — Calling Germany’s plan to phase outnuclear energy by 2022 a “Herculean task,” Chancellor Angela Merkel told lawmakers on Thursday that the country was poised to lead the world in renouncing nuclear energy.

“We can become the first industrial country to abandon nuclear energy,” Mrs. Merkel said in a speech as she appealed to lawmakers to back the bills that would help pay for the transition. “It is a Herculean task. We all can work together on this project to combine future ethical responsibilities with economic success.”

As other leading industrial countries wonder whether Germany, as Europe’s largest economy and one of the world’s leading export nations, can achieve this, Mrs. Merkel insisted that the goal was reachable if certain steps were taken.

“We can reach this goal only if we fundamentally upgrade our energy system,” she said in Parliament. “Abandoning nuclear power will not be easy without creating conditions for future energy supply.”….

Mrs. Merkel, who was trained as a physicist, said the government would move quickly to adopt a battery of laws enabling the transition to alternative energy sources, including wind and solar power, but also new measures to save energy.

Eight bills and regulations have already been drafted after three months of inspections of Germany’s 17 nuclear power plants by two expert committees appointed by the government. Eight of the nuclear plants have already been decommissioned…http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/10/world/europe/10iht-germany10.html

June 10, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, politics