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Germany's Schroeder to Meet Ministers on Nuclear Power Shutdown



Germany's Schroeder to Meet Ministers on Nuclear Power Shutdown

Berlin, April 12 (Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder 
will meet today with ministers involved in Germany's planned 
withdrawal from nuclear energy amid reports a final agreement with 
utilities could come as early as Friday. 

Chief executives of Germany's four largest power companies, including 
RWE AG and Veba AG, may meet Schroeder Friday to seal a pact on the 
closure of the country's 19 nuclear plants, the online edition of 
weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported yesterday. 

A government spokesman wouldn't confirm or deny the report, saying an 
announcement on the status of the negotiations, which have dragged on 
for more than a year, could come this afternoon. 

``Progress has certainly been made'' in talks between the government 
and utilities at a working level, the spokesman said. ``It's just not 
yet certain when an agreement might come.'' 

Negotiations between the government and utilities have stalled as the 
two parties haggle over the remaining operating life of reactors and 
the disposal of nuclear waste. 

Utilities have insisted on a maximum operating life of 35 years, 
which they say is the only ``economically feasible'' solution. 
Germany's ruling coalition of Social Democrats and environmentalist 
Greens has demanded a 30-year limit and has threatened to legislate 
to force plants to close if an agreement isn't reached before the 
parliamentary recess begins in July. 

The government and utilities will agree to limit the total amount of 
power nuclear plants can produce in the future to between 2,100 and 
2,300 terawatt hours (billion kilowatt hours), Spiegel reported, 
citing unnamed participants in the talks. 

Newer, more economical plants will be allowed to operate longer, 
while older plants will be shut down earlier, though an agreement on 
a final date for the closure of the last reactor has yet to be 
reached, Spiegel said. 

The two parties will also agree to end nuclear reprocessing by mid-
2005 at the latest, the magazine reported. 

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
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