GERMANY’S NUKE MOVE, THE BACKSTORY

Timeline: Nuclear power controversy in Germany
David Cutler, May 31, 2011 (Reuters)

"Following is a timeline of the controversy over nuclear power in Germany…
" - 1960 - West Germany's first industrial nuclear power plant opens in Kahl. The plant closes in 1985.
- 1966 - Rival Communist East Germany begins operation of its first nuclear power plant, a Soviet-designed model, in Ludmin.
- 1975 - Fire at the Ludmin plant on the Baltic Coast almost causes a meltdown of the core.
- 1980 - The Greens, who became a nationwide force with their anti-nuclear campaign slogan "Atomkraft? Nein, Danke" (Nuclear Power, No Thanks), form a political party in West Germany.
- 1984 - West Germany begins first nuclear waste transports to medium-term storage in the northern village of Gorleben, near the Iron Curtain border with East Germany, amid protests.
- 1989 - Last of West Germany's nuclear power plants begins operation. After a series of major protests, West Germany decides against building its own nuclear waste reprocessing plant in the Bavarian town of Wackersdorf, relying instead on plants in La Hague in France and Sellafield in Britain.
- 1990 - The unified German government finishes closing down last of eight nuclear power plants in the former Communist east.
- 1995 - First nuclear waste transports to Gorleben in "Castor" containers (Casks for Storage and Transport of Radioactive Materials) from La Hague."

German activists have fought long and hard to end their nation's dependence on nuclear energy (click to enlarge)

" - 1997 - Huge demonstrations confront Castor transports amid biggest post-war police operation involving 30,000 officers.
- May 1998 - The government halts nuclear waste transports because of safety fears over Castor containers.
- June 2000 - Coalition government including Greens agrees with utilities to phase out nuclear power by the mid-2020s.
- March 26, 2001 - Castor transport from French reprocessing plant resumes after government says it is safe. Protesters try to block rail line despite massive police mobilization.
- April 10, 2001 - Protesters delay the first transport of nuclear waste to France in four years by chaining themselves to tracks near a Bavarian nuclear power plant.
- April 24, 2001 - Germany's first shipments of nuclear waste to Britain in three years commence after police clear some 100 protesters blocking the road from the Neckarswestheim plant.
- November 13, 2001 - Police mobilize 15,000 officers as protesters try to stop a shipment of nuclear waste from France reaching Gorleben.
- November 7, 2004 - Sebastien Briard, a French anti-nuclear activist, is killed in eastern France near the town of Avricourt while trying to stop a nuclear waste transport to Germany…Two days later the waste reaches Gorleben."

Under Merkel and driven by the Greens, Germany has dominated the world solar market. (click to enlarge)

" - October 21, 2006 - Chancellor Angela Merkel says it is a mistake for Germany to turn off its nuclear power plants over the next 14 years even though her coalition government is committed to the plan.
- September 18, 2010 - Thousands of demonstrators surround Merkel's office after the government agreed to extend the plants' lifespans by an average of 12 years on September 5.
- October 28, 2010 - The law to extend the lifespan of the 17 nuclear power stations by 12 years to about 2033, tailored only for the lower house, the Bundestag, is passed. The law reverses a commitment by her center-left predecessor Gerhard Schroeder to phase out the nuclear sites.
- March 14/15, 2011 - Following the March 2011 nuclear reactor accident in Japan, Merkel suspends her coalition government's decision to grant operational lifetime extensions to nuclear power plants…Merkel also announces the immediate closure at least until June, of seven nuclear power reactors which started operating before 1980.
- May 30, 2011 - Germany plans to shut all nuclear reactors by 2022, Merkel's ruling coalition announces, in a policy reversal drawn up in a rush after the Fukushima disaster in Japan. The decision has yet to be approved by parliament…To accompany the nuclear exit, Germany plans to cut electricity usage by 10 percent by 2020 and double the share of renewable energy sources to 35 percent over the same period."