By Gerrit Wiesmann in Berlin

Published: May 27 2011

The seven oldest of Germany’s 17 nuclear power stations will not go back into operation when a three-month safety review finishes in June, the country’s federal and state environment ministers agreed on Friday.

The decision, announced after a meeting of the 17 ministers, is the first in a series of rulings about the phase-out of nuclear power in Germany, culminating in a final parliamentary vote to be held the first week of July.

Angela Merkel, chancellor, is scheduled to meet top policymakers from her Christian Democratic Union and her coalition partner the Free Democrats late on Sunday to set the agenda for a cabinet vote the week after next.

Her government is widely expected to propose closing the country’s last nuclear plant around 2021. The environment ministers on Friday discussed, but did not a agree, a final phase-out period of 2017-2022, officials said.

Ms Merkel ordered Germany’s seven oldest nuclear plants to become idle after the nuclear disaster in Japan, and signalled a shift in her pro-nuclear stance after reports by safety experts and the Ethics Commission on Safe Energy Supply, set up after the disaster.

To the consternation of power groups Eon, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall, she reneged on the extension of nuclear lifetimes to 2036 from 2022. The latter had been the phase-out date set by Social Democrats and Greens a decade ago.

A poll published by ZDF television on Friday showed that 85 per cent of Germans would like nuclear power to be phased out by 2021 at the very latest. However, some 68 per cent say that Ms Merkel’s U-turn lacks credibility.

Safety experts last week said no nuclear plant could withstand a large aircraft crashing into it. The Ethics Commission, due to report to Ms Merkel on Saturday, is expected to recommend a decade-long phase-out.

Ms Merkel could yet face a few weeks of haggling to reach her other goal of winning the backing of the opposition Social Democrats and Green Party.

Both parties are wary of a tax break for the nuclear operators, which the government is considering. The Social Democrats are also pushing for a permanent storage facility for nuclear waste to end years of stopgap measures.

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