Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday ordered all three of Germany's remaining nuclear power plants to stay operational until mid-April, breaking an impasse that had caused a rift among his coalition partners as an energy crisis looms.
Germany initially planned to exit nuclear power by the end of the year, but Russia's war in Ukraine and skyrocketing power prices since then have forced a rethink.
"The legal basis will be created to allow the operation of the nuclear power plants Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland beyond December 31, 2022 until April 15, 2023," Scholz said in a letter to cabinet ministers seen by AFP.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck from the traditionally anti-nuclear Greens had recently said two of the three plants would be kept "on standby" until next spring, to help secure energy supplies if needed, in a major U-turn for the Greens.
But that did not go far enough for fellow coalition partner, the liberal FDP, who insisted the third plant, in Emsland in northern Germany, should also stay online.
Chancellor Scholz's third coalition partner, the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), welcomed his move to keep nuclear power as part of the mix. The three remaining nuclear plants are Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland.
The Social Democrat (SPD) chancellor also called for ministries to present an "ambitious" law to boost energy efficiency and to put into law a phase-out of coal by 2030.
Last week climate activist Greta Thunberg said it was a "mistake" for Germany to press on with nuclear decommissioning while resorting to coal again.
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