German Government Rift On Nuclear Shutdown Widens

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Tuesday December 22 10:11 AM ET 

BONN (Reuters) - Senior members of Germany's ruling coalition of 
Social Democrats and Greens clashed Tuesday over how and 
when the government's plans to shut down the country's nuclear 
power stations would be implemented.  

The phase-out of nuclear power was a key election issue for the 
Greens, who formed a coalition with Chancellor Gerhard 
Schroeder's Social Democrats after the September poll.  

Environment Minister Juergen Trittin attacked Economics Minister 
Werner Mueller's ``Penny for the Future'' plan, where utilities put a 
surcharge of 0.5 pfennigs per kilowatt hour on power to cut the cost 
of phasing out nuclear plants.  

``Any talk of further surcharges on energy is damaging,'' Trittin, a 
senior member of the Greens, told a news conference.  

The government's plans to cut social welfare contributions by 2002 
would cost up to 45 billion marks ($27 billion), which would be paid 
for by higher energy taxes, Trittin said.  

Trittin earlier rejected a proposal by utility chiefs to complete the 
closure of Germany's nuclear power plants by 2020 because it had 
not been drawn up by the whole industry.  

``It's not a credible proposal because the power station operators 
who put it forward operate only two-thirds of nuclear stations,'' 
Trittin told ARD television.  

``For a serious offer, all the utility companies have to be sitting at 
the table and those kind of negotiations will take place in January. 
At the moment it is all speculation,'' he said.  

A row flared last week after a meeting between Schroeder and 
leading energy sector executives. Trittin was not invited.

The Greens accused Schroeder of casting doubt on the coalition's 
plans to phase out nuclear power.

Schroeder agreed that a date had yet to be set. ``I cannot give a 
date yet when the last nuclear power station will be taken off the 
network,'' he told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine newspaper.  

The ruling coalition has set a 12-month period for government and 
industry to agree on a timetable.

If they fail to reach a consensus the government has said it will 
force industry's hand with legislation.

Schroeder is keen to avoid costly compensation claims by energy 
firms, who argue a swift withdrawal will cost hundreds of millions of 
marks. The firms have threatened to take the government to court if 
that is the case.  

Trittin's ministry is drafting a law which will ban German nuclear 
plants from shipping their waste across the country and on to 
reprocessing plants in Britain and France. Germany has no  
reprocessing facilities of its own. 

Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -
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