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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