BERLIN, July 31 (UPI) -- The German government said it will increase funding for atomic research despite an agreement to phase out nuclear energy.
German Research Minister Annette Schavan said $22 million will be spent each year on nuclear safety, radiation protection and nuclear waste storage technology, Deutsche Welle reported Thursday.
The newspaper said the last German nuclear power plant is supposed to be shut down in 2020. Schavan said German scientists need to keep up with the latest nuclear research so they don't fall behind other countries.
"Our scientists must stay in the top league," Schavan told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper. "As long as everywhere around us new power plants are being built, we cannot afford to just sit back and invest nothing in nuclear safety and radiation protection."
