German MPs green light nuclear revival

BERLIN, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- After a rowdy parliamentary debate and a media-heavy publicity stunt by Greenpeace, German lawmakers approved the government's plan to extend the lifetime of nuclear power in Germany.

Government parliamentarians threw their weight behind German Chancellor Angela Merkel's energy bill that was adopted Thursday on a 308-289 vote. It would extend running times of the country's 17 nuclear reactors by 12 years on average.

The country had seen large anti-nuclear demonstrations in the weeks before the vote. On Thursday, 12 Greenpeace activists climbed the roof of Merkel's party headquarters and unfolded a large protest banner. Greenpeace says the bill mainly benefits Germany's four main utilities running the reactors -- Eon, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall Europe.

A few miles north, in the Reichstag, opposition lawmakers voiced similar objections. They're furious at the government for prolonging nuclear power after a previous government together with the utilities in 2000 had agreed that all reactors must go offline by 2021.

"You are dividing society where it was already agreed," said a fuming Sigmar Gabriel, the leader of the opposition Social Democrats and a former environment minister.

Juergen Trittin, of the Green Party, who, like his party colleagues, wore symbolic black, called the bill a "gift to the utilities" that "won't last four years."

The utilities with their reactors are expected to make tens billions of dollars in extra profits and had to agree only to moderate tax payments in return for longer running times.

The government argues the opposition is using the nuclear issue for political gains. It notes that the bill is mainly about green energy as it includes several ambitious measures to boost energy efficiency, increase the share of renewable energy generation and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

"We in Germany will realize the most efficient, most climate-friendly and most competitive energy supply that exists in any industrialized nation in the world," Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said. He added the opposition was "stoking fears, not because it helps the people but because you think it helps you."

Germany aims to boost the share of renewables to 80 percent of the electricity consumption by 2050, halve the country's energy consumption by 2050 and reduce CO2 emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

The government, however, with its nuclear decision goes against the majority of the population.

Germans are largely opposed to nuclear power and have staged several large-scale protests ahead of the vote.

The nuclear industry in exchange for longer running times agreed to pay around $380 million per year to support renewables and climate protection efforts, with total contributions to amount to $19 billion, the government said. The industry agreed to pay a new "fuel rod" tax of around $2.5 billion per year starting in 2011. The tax is less than expected and limited to six years, a clear negotiation victory for the utilities, observers say.

The opposition has vowed to challenge the bill n court if it isn't discussed in the upper house of parliament. Merkel's government would like to pass on talks in the Bundesrat since it recently lost its majority there.