RWE stops building nuclear power plants

• Tweet

ESSEN, Germany, June 18 (UPI) -- German energy giant RWE, once a staunch advocate of nuclear power, says it will stop building nuclear power plants.

Peter Terium, the company's incoming chief executive, said the company will withdraw from the nuclear power business in the next few years and instead focus on solar energy.

The company's executives met in Istanbul during the weekend to discuss the new strategy, the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung reported Sunday.

Terium said investment in nuclear power plants is too financially risky, the newspaper said, pointing to massive construction delays in France and Finland.

The decision comes in the wake of Germany's decision to phase-out the use of nuclear power in the next decade, the newspaper said.