Germany Set to Keep 7 Nuclear Plants Shut
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}BERLIN -- Germany is set to shut down its seven oldest nuclear reactors permanently after federal and regional environment ministers agreed on the move.
The seven reactors built before 1980 -- out of a total 17 in Germany -- were taken off the grid for three months following Japan's Fukushima disaster pending a safety review.
News agency DAPD reported that federal Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen and counterparts from Germany's 16 states on Friday agreed to the permanent shutdown of the old reactors.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}They account for about 40 percent of the country's nuclear power capacity -- which in turn makes up a bit less than a quarter of Germany's energy mix.
The government is to determine early next month when Germany's last reactor is to be taken off the grid, possibly in about a decade.