Germany's plan to exit nuclear energy causing havoc for utilities

Dusseldorf

GERMANY'S largest utilities are facing their biggest challenge yet: Provisioning enough cash to dismantle the nation's nuclear reactors and make safe equipment and fuel that may be radioactive for 100,000 years.

The nation's exit from atomic energy is spurred by Japan's Fukushima disaster four years ago and Chancellor Angela Merkel's plan for an economy based on renewable energy. Costs may exceed 38 billion euros (S$60.1 billion), which the utilities estimated at the end of last year.