BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of people have demonstrated near several German nuclear power plants, demanding a speedy end to the use of atomic energy.
Anti-nuclear activists called protests at 12 sites across the country on Monday, a day before the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster in present-day Ukraine, to underline demands for a swift exit from nuclear power.
Groups also staged protests along the Rhine river to call for the closure of France’s aging Fessenheim nuclear plant, just across the border.
Japan’s post-earthquake nuclear crisis has galvanized long-standing German opposition to nuclear power.
It prompted the government to freeze plans to extend the life of Germany’s plants, order a temporary shutdown of its seven oldest reactors and seek a quicker transition to renewable energy.
