The smoking towers of Isar II, Emsland and Neckarwestheim II reactors were to shut forever by midnight on Saturday as Berlin enacts its plan for fully-renewable electricity generation by 2035.
Seven commercial plants joined the grid in the early years, with the 1970s oil crisis helping public acceptance. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative-led governments went back-and-forth on that — until Fukushima.Arnold Vaatz, a former lawmaker for Merkel's Christian Democrats , said the decision was also intended to sway a state election in Baden Wuerttemberg where the issue was playing into the hands of the Greens.
Still, two thirds of Germans favour extending the lifespan of reactors or connecting old plants back to the grid, with only 28% backing the phase-out, a survey by the Forsa institute showed earlier this week.