Germany closes nuke plant as part of energy revamp

Grafenrheinfeld, Germany

IN one of this country's most popular novels for young readers, the nuclear reactor on the edge of this Bavarian town melts down, spewing a radioactive cloud that threatens all of Germany and robs a 14-year-old girl of her family and her hope for the future.

Last month, that nuclear power plant in Grafenrheinfeld, responsible for meeting the energy needs of industry-heavy Bavaria since 1981, came to a less dramatic but equally symbolic end. It became the first active reactor to be decommissioned since 2011, following Chancellor Angela Merkel's about-face on nuclear power after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant catastrophe in Japan.

Taking Grafenrheinfeld offline is a milestone in Germany's push to establish a nuclear-free energy system by 2022, but also one made possible by its determination to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020. The plant can be closed because it has been replaced by alternative en…