Germany axes nuclear plants
Source: Agencies |
March 18, 2011, Friday
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CHANCELLOR Angela Merkel said yesterday she aimed to accelerate Germany's move away from nuclear energy after the crisis in Japan and dismissed accusations she may have closed seven atomic plants illegally.
Merkel this week backtracked on an unpopular decision to extend the life of aging nuclear stations, drawing scorn from the opposition which says she is merely trying to avoid a major electoral setback in regional polls this month.
Addressing a rowdy session of parliament, Merkel said nuclear -technology remained a transitional source of affordable power while -renewable energy sources were -developed further.
Under a "moratorium," the government ordered by decree on Tuesday the closure of all nuclear plants which began operating before 1980 for at least three months, so that they could undergo safety checks.
"We will use the moratorium period, which we deliberately set to be short and ambitious, to drive the change in energy policy and accelerate it wherever possible, as we want to reach the age of renewable energy as quickly as -possible," Merkel said.
Imposing the moratorium, Merkel suspended a government decision taken only last autumn to prolong the life of Germany's 17 nuclear power plants beyond their original closure dates.
That sudden decision drew criticism from home and abroad.
The former president of the Constitutional Court, Hans-Juergen Papier, pointed out that Germany's nuclear industry was covered by law. "Constitutionally it goes without saying that the federal government cannot order the provisional repeal of a law," he told Handelsblatt newspaper.
Asked if the government's move had been unconstitutional, he said: "Yes, that's how it is."
Amid much opposition heckling, Merkel said repeatedly that the catastrophe in Japan, where an earthquake and tsunami provoked a crisis at the Fukushima nuclear complex, meant Germany faced a new situation. Everything had been done legally, she said.
"The nuclear law provides precisely for this: shutting down a plant temporarily until the authorities have achieved clarity about a new situation," she said.
Merkel is under fire even from her own ranks. Speaker of parliament Norbert Lammert, a member of her CDU party, questioned why the Bundestag had not been consulted.
An official in the neighboring Czech Republic also questioned how major decisions could be made when Japanese engineers were still battling to avoid a major nuclear accident.
"We have time to analyze what we can learn from Fukushima," said Dana Drabova, who heads the Czech nuclear safety office.
"But to make hasty decisions when we hardly know what happened in the plant and where improvements should be appears to me rather -premature," she said.
Merkel this week backtracked on an unpopular decision to extend the life of aging nuclear stations, drawing scorn from the opposition which says she is merely trying to avoid a major electoral setback in regional polls this month.
Addressing a rowdy session of parliament, Merkel said nuclear -technology remained a transitional source of affordable power while -renewable energy sources were -developed further.
Under a "moratorium," the government ordered by decree on Tuesday the closure of all nuclear plants which began operating before 1980 for at least three months, so that they could undergo safety checks.
"We will use the moratorium period, which we deliberately set to be short and ambitious, to drive the change in energy policy and accelerate it wherever possible, as we want to reach the age of renewable energy as quickly as -possible," Merkel said.
Imposing the moratorium, Merkel suspended a government decision taken only last autumn to prolong the life of Germany's 17 nuclear power plants beyond their original closure dates.
That sudden decision drew criticism from home and abroad.
The former president of the Constitutional Court, Hans-Juergen Papier, pointed out that Germany's nuclear industry was covered by law. "Constitutionally it goes without saying that the federal government cannot order the provisional repeal of a law," he told Handelsblatt newspaper.
Asked if the government's move had been unconstitutional, he said: "Yes, that's how it is."
Amid much opposition heckling, Merkel said repeatedly that the catastrophe in Japan, where an earthquake and tsunami provoked a crisis at the Fukushima nuclear complex, meant Germany faced a new situation. Everything had been done legally, she said.
"The nuclear law provides precisely for this: shutting down a plant temporarily until the authorities have achieved clarity about a new situation," she said.
Merkel is under fire even from her own ranks. Speaker of parliament Norbert Lammert, a member of her CDU party, questioned why the Bundestag had not been consulted.
An official in the neighboring Czech Republic also questioned how major decisions could be made when Japanese engineers were still battling to avoid a major nuclear accident.
"We have time to analyze what we can learn from Fukushima," said Dana Drabova, who heads the Czech nuclear safety office.
"But to make hasty decisions when we hardly know what happened in the plant and where improvements should be appears to me rather -premature," she said.
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