German coalition renews dispute over nuclear power as election comes into view
BERLIN - Germany's research minister says the nation should stop phasing out its nuclear power stations and even consider one day building new ones.
That comment has fuelled a dispute in the governing coalition that could be an issue in next year's election.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's left-right coalition government has stuck with its centre-left predecessor's decision to phase out Germany's 17 nuclear power plants by 2021.
However, the plan has caused repeated political friction.
Research Minister Annette Schaven says Germany should change its mind on scrapping nuclear power.
She added that Germans urgently need to extend nuclear power plants' lives - in part as a contribution to global climate protection and sustainable energy supplies.
"Building new nuclear power stations is not an issue in Germany today, but who can say whether that will still be the case in 10 years?" Schavan said, according to a report Sunday.
Merkel's centre-left coalition partners, the Social Democrats, have fiercely defended the shutdown plan agreed by the previous government, which they led in a coalition with the Greens.
Merkel's party opposes abandoning nuclear energy but agreed to keep the plan when the coalition was formed in 2005.
Both partners are keen to end their alliance in an election expected next year, and appear to see nuclear power as a useful issue.
Social Democratic parliamentary leader Peter Struck was quoted as saying that extending nuclear plants' life would be "irresponsible so long as the question of disposing of highly radioactive waste is not resolved."
If Merkel "plans to make nuclear power an election issue, I say: go on," he told Sunday's edition of Tagesspiegel daily. "People are aware of their responsibility to their children and grandchildren."
Still, with oil prices soaring, a poll published last week suggested that opinion might be shifting.
The Infratest Dimap poll of 1,000 people, conducted Monday and Tuesday, found that 51 per cent believe Germany is right to stick to the phaseout - down from 58 per cent in December.
The poll gave a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 points.
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