Germany agrees to extend nuclear plant life span

Germany agrees to extend nuclear plant life span Germany's coalition government has decided to extend the life span of the country's nuclear power plants by an average of 12 years, officials say.Under the agreement, some plants will now remain in production until the 2030s, instead of being phased out by 2021 as the previous government wanted.

There will also be new fees on utility companies to fund renewable energy.Chancellor Angela Merkel argued that renewable sources are not developed enough to abandon nuclear power.

The plan reverses a decision by the previous government - a coalition of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens - to shut down Germany's nuclear power stations by 2021.

The agreement was reached at a long meeting at the chancellery between Chancellor Angela Merkel, Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen, Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and other leaders of the governing centre-right coalition after months of wrangling.