Germany to pull the plug on nuclear power by 2022

The problems at the Fukushima plant in Japan earlier this year led countries across the world to re-evaluate the way they handled nuclear material, but nowhere has the impact been quite as strong as Germany. Less than a year after the government of Ms Angela Merkel announced plans to extend the life of several nuclear reactors, that policy will be reversed and all nuclear power plants will be phased out by 2022.

Following a lengthy meeting that extended into early Monday morning, the ruling coalition announced the plan, which would see the country's 17 nuclear power plants all phased out by 2022. Eight of the oldest plants, which have already been taken off line will be shut down for good immediately. Seven of these were shut down following the Tsunami and earth quake in Japan in March, while one had been taken off the grid earlier. Six newer plants will be decommissioned by 2021, and the three most modern the following year. The phase out is still subject to parliamentary approval.

The decision – announced by the Environment Minister, Mr Norbert Roettgen early on Monday – is a massive turnaround. In September last year, the government said it would be extending the working life of 17 nuclear power plants by an average of 12 years, fulfilling an election pledge. As a result the country's biggest energy firms – RWE, E.ON, Vattenfall and EnBW – agreed to a nuclear fuel rods tax that would raise around €2.3 billion for the state. For the moment there are no plans to undo the fuel rods tax. Shares of the big four energy firms tumbled on Monday.

The news was swiftly condemned by the Federation of Germany Industry, the BDI, which warned that the move could lead to higher electricity prices and critical supply bottlenecks – ultimately making Germany a “weaker industrial player.” The BDI President Mr Hans-Peter Keitel warned it would also now be much harder and more expensive to meet the country's C02 reduction commitments.

The phase-out received a cautious welcome from the environmental movement. “We think it is technically and economically feasible to phase out nuclear by 2015,” said Mr Thomas Breuer, head of Greenpeace's German operations, who also rejects the suggestion that it will hurt the economy. He pointed to a report by The German Institute for Economic Research, the DIW, which argues that wholesale electricity prices are likely to rise more without the deployment of renewable energy, than with, up to 2020.

Germany has had one of the world's most thriving Green movements. Last year's extension plans triggered massive protests across the country, while protests at the country's nuclear waste storage facility at Gorleben in the north of the country are a regular event. Elections held this March in the state of Baden Wurttemberg, shortly after the troubles at Fukoshima began, were dubbed the “nuclear election” as the Greens achieved their best ever performance in a state election, and took power along side their partners the Social Democrats. It was a humiliating blow for Ms Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, which had maintained control of the state for decades.

Germany's response contrasts with a more cautious response elsewhere in Europe. Earlier this month, Britain's Office for Nuclear Regulation concluded that while there were lessons to be learnt, there was no need to curb the operation of nuclear power plants in the country. At a European level, stress tests will soon be conducted on the region's 143 nuclear reactors

On Tuesday, Ms Merkel will arrive in India for a brief visit, which will include a meeting with the Prime Minister and the President and a visit to the Taj Mahal. She will be presented with the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding.

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