Germany to Shut Down Nuclear Plants by 2022

Germany will become the first major industrial nation to completely reject nuclear power since the Fukishima disaster in Japan after voting to shut down all reactors by 2022. Germany’s lower house of parliament voted overwhelmingly for the move, with politicians from the center-left Social Democrats and Greens joining with those from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right coalition.



“This is a revolution,” said Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said, Euronews reports. “It is the first time that such a big, industrial country has done such a thing, and we think it is good for the country.” Germany gets 23 per cent of its power from its 17 nuclear reactors, nine of which are currently running at full capacity, but Merkel claims that wind and solar energy can meet the shortfall. Source: Offshore Wind