Germany started phasing out nuclear power on Friday when a 32-year-old power plant was switched off forever, the first step toward a historic shift in the energy supply of Europe's biggest economy. Eighteen remaining plants are to be closed over the next two decades under an accord between utilities and the government that bears the stamp of the environmentalist Greens party, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's junior partner. Germany's second-oldest nuclear plant at Stade in northern Germany, operated by the E.On Kernkraft utility, was powered down at about 8.30 am local time, the Lower Saxony state environment ministry said. Plans call for the 660-megawatt plant to be torn down starting in 2005, after spent nuclear fuel rods are removed and sent to France for reprocessing. Demolition work is expected to take up to 12 years.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!