10.000 People in Berlin Protested Nuclear Operations

Tens of thousands of antinuclear protesters, up to 100,000, according to organizers, marched through the center of Berlin under the slogan of "Farewell to nuclear power and, in protest against the decision of the chancellor, Angela Merkel, of extending the life of the plants.

The march, which started from the railway station and ran in the vicinity of the Foreign Ministry and Parliament, was culminating in a concentration back to the starting point, developed in a festive atmosphere among anti-nuclear slogans accompanied by bands and rumble drums.

It was the first demonstration after the decision of the center-right coalition of Merkel extend the operation of the plants, it’s called by the traditional German anti-nuclear activism revived with the accession of some of the clubs of modern Berlin.

The march was called by a platform of anti-nuclear organizations, which explicitly stated "no desire" that led politicians. Already during the coalition negotiations between the Christian Democratic Union and the Bavarian Christian Social Union and the Liberal party (FDP) announced the intention to review the timetable for closure of the 17 plants still operating.

The pact signed in 2000 between the Social Democrat-Green alliance of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and the industry expected that the so-called "nuclear blackout" would occur in 2022. Merkel and wanted to review the schedule of closures in the previous term, a large coalition, but the then government social partners was prevented.

The current alliance of the CDU with the FDP returned to the issue, to announce two weeks ago, a new plan of arrangement whereby it will extend the life of the plants an average of twelve years, so that the last close on 2034. The government aims to provide in exchange consortia around 2,300 million euros a year to government coffers through a new tax on their earnings report this moratorium.