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Germans protest Merkel’s decision

24 October 2010 00:30 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s announcement to extend the life of nuclear power plants was met by anti-nuclear demonstrations nationwide, APA reports quoting Press TV.

During a video message to Germans on Saturday, Merkel defended plans that would extend the legal lifetime of nuclear power plants for an additional decade, DPA reported.

Merkel claimed that the move would help fund investment in the renewable energy technology.

Coinciding with her announcement, anti-nuclear protests were mounted at 120 locations throughout the country. Organizers of which claimed a turnout of 10,000 to 20,000 people, Indy Media reported.

The protesters also plan to demonstrate against the ’Castor’ -- which stands for "cask for storage and transport of radioactive material" -- transport of radioactive waste to a storage facility in Gorleben in northern Germany, scheduled for early November, AFP said.

The normal use of trains for the transportation of the radioactive waste containers have been repetitively met by demonstrations throughout Germany.

The center-right coalition government’s plans to lift the 2022 deadline for the phasing out of nuclear energy use comes despite the nationwide outcry, which saw up to 100,000 demonstrators against the scheme on September 18.

The new plan, which will be put to parliament in the coming week, would extend the life of Germany’s 17 nuclear reactors for an average of 12 years beyond the previously scheduled shutdown.