Closing Down

Snag Hits German Nuke Power Plan
Associated Press, January 25, 1999

Germany's plan to abandon nuclear power hit a snag Monday when the government announced it had delayed a decision to ban exports of spent nuclear fuel. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was concerned that Germany might have to pay compensation if it scraps reprocessing deals with French and British plants, government spokesman Uwe-Karsten Heye said. The delay sent a conciliatory signal to the power industry a day before utility executives are scheduled to open talks with Schroeder on a timetable for shutting down Germany's 19 nuclear plants. But Schroeder's abrupt reversal threatened a fight with his junior coalition partner, the Greens, who are pushing the anti-nuclear agenda in the center-left government that took power last fall.

Schroeder ordered a three-week review of a draft law that would ban reprocessing next Jan. 1. Parliament had been scheduled to take up the proposal this week. A Cabinet decision on the law set for Wednesday also was postponed, Heye said. "The chancellor had the impression that there are many open questions'' in the law, Heye said. Some in the power industry have threatened to boycott the talks unless nuclear plant operators are given another five years to end reprocessing. Schroeder previously said he saw no legal basis for compensation if Germany abandons reprocessing contracts running up to 2014, despite the threat of claims totaling some $7 billion from Britain and France.

His change of mind illustrated the complexity of weaning one of the world's most powerful industrial nations off nuclear power, including what to do with radioactive waste if German power plants no longer reprocess it abroad. About one-third of German electricity comes from nuclear power. Environment Minister Juergen Trittin, a Green who drafted the law, was unhappy about Schroeder's decision, a ministry spokesman said. Another party leader, Kerstin Mueller, said: "We see no reason for the delay.'' Stopping exports of nuclear waste and storing them in Germany instead is a key step in the planned withdrawal. But nuclear power producers say they don't have storage sites and have demanded the government postpone the export ban through 2004.