德国称2022年前关闭所有核电站

德国政府于30日早间宣布，经过执政两党的协商，决定在2022年内关闭国内所有核电站。自日本福岛核电站发生危机后，德国国内爆发了大规模的反核游行，德国总理默克尔还组建了一个道德监督小组随时关注国内核电站的运行。德国环境部长表示，已处于暂停状态的七个旧反应堆和克吕梅尔核电站将不再启动；另有6座核电站将在2021年关闭，三座最新修建的核电站则在2022年内停止运转。在三月份关停老旧核电站之前，德国有23％的能源来自于核能。

Germany's ruling coalition says it has agreed a date of 2022 for the shutdown of all of its nuclear power plants.

Environment Minister Norbert Rottgen made the announcement after a meeting of the ruling coalition that lasted into the early hours of Monday.

Chancellor Angela Merkel had set up an ethics panel to look into nuclear power following the disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan.

Germany saw mass anti-nuclear protests in the wake of the disaster.

Mr Rottgen said the seven oldest reactors, which were already subject to a moratorium, and the Kruemmel nuclear power plant, would not resume.

Six others would go offline by 2021 at the latest and the three newest by 2022, he said.

Mr Rottgen said: "It's definite. The latest end for the last three nuclear power plants is 2022. There will be no clause for revision."

Mrs Merkel's Christian Democrats had met with its junior partners on Sunday after the ethics panel had delivered its conclusions.

Before the meeting she said: "I think we're on a good path but very, very many questions have to be considered.

"If you want to exit something, you also have to prove how the change will work and how we can enter into a durable and sustainable energy provision."

The Fukushima plant was crippled by the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, causing radioactive leaks that spurred anti-nuclear protests in Germany.

Mr Rottgen said a tax on spent fuel rods, expected to raise 2.3bn euros ($3.28bn) a year from this year, would remain despite the shutdown.

Germany's nuclear industry has argued that an early shutdown would be hugely damaging to the country's industrial base.

Before March's moratorium on the older power plants, Germany relied on nuclear power for 23% of its energy.

The anti-nuclear drive boosted Germany's Green party, which took control of the Christian Democrat stronghold of Baden-Wuerttemberg, in late March.