The German government is set to agree details of the planned extension of nuclear reactors' operating lives at a meeting Sunday, but any decision is almost certain to face considerable legal challenges, a leading lawmaker told Dow Jones newsletter Energy Daily Friday.
The German government is set to agree details of the planned extension
of nuclear reactors' operating lives at a meeting Sunday, but any decision is
almost certain to face considerable legal challenges, a leading lawmaker told
Dow Jones newsletter Energy Daily Friday.
Joachim Pfeiffer, member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling Christian
Democratic Union, said Merkel will meet Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle and
Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen as well as the heads of the parliamentary
fractions of the coalition parties Sunday to decide by how long nuclear
reactors' operating lives should be extended.
Next week that decision is expected to be voted on in the parliamentary
fractions of Merkel's conservative parties and their junior coalition partners,
the Free Democrats, he said.
Pfeiffer also said he expects the opponents of the extension plan will make
true the threats to sue the government at the constitutional court over the
issue.
His comments highlight how the nuclear debate has polarized German politicians
and the broader society.
Europe
's
largest economy is in the process of gradually phasing out all its 17 nuclear
reactors by around 2022, but the government has said it plans to extend their
operating lives to help achieve
Germany
's
ambitious climate protection targets.
Large parts of the population reject the plan according to recent opinion polls
due to deep-rooted concerns over the safety of the power plants and costs for
dealing with nuclear waste.
The countries four reactor operators--utilities E.ON AG (EOAN.XE), RWE AG
(RWE.XE), EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG (EBK.XE) and Vattenfall Europe
AG--are in favor of it.
Merkel said over the weekend that an extension of nuclear lives by between 10
and 15 years would be "reasonable," and has repeatedly said her
government considers nuclear energy a "bridge technology" that is
needed until renewable energy sources can meet the bulk of German energy
consumption.
Her government, however, faces considerable headwind as opponents--including
members of her own party--are fiercely opposing the it plan.
Last week, environment ministers from nine German states warned they will
consider filing a lawsuit at
Germany
's
constitutional court against the federal government if it recommends extending
nuclear reactor lives.
None of the states whose ministers had joined in the announcement are home to
one of
Germany
's
nuclear power plants. Governments in many of the states that do hold nuclear
plants support an extension, which would protect industry and employment in
their state.
Lawmaker Pfeiffer said on the sidelines of an energy conference in
Mainz
Friday
that it could take 12 to 15 months before the constitutional court may rule on
legal challenges against a nuclear extension decision by the government.
"We will have judicial clarity after 2012," Pfeiffer said, conceding
that this would create uncertainty for some time.
Meanwhile, the office of Federal President Christian Wulff, who will have to
sign the law, Friday denied an extension beyond nine years would require
approval from the upper house of parliament.
Daily newspaper Handelsblatt said this was the conclusion of an expert report
commissioned by the president's office into the constitutionality of the plan.
"This expert opinion doesn't exist," the Wulff's office said.
Merkel's government plans to pass the nuclear extension law without consent
from the upper house of parliament where it doesn't have a majority, saying
approval isn't necessarily required.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's government is expected to present a comprehensive
package of energy policy proposals on Sept. 28, including the plan to extend
the lives of nuclear reactors.
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