RWE Urges Merkel to Extend Nuclear Reactors as Election Looms - Bloomberg.com - 0 views
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Energy Net on 29 Jun 09RWE AG Chief Executive Officer Juergen Grossmann urged Chancellor Angela Merkel to scrap a plan to close Germany's nuclear reactors, saying an extension would protect the country from fuel price swings. "They're a predictable part of the power-generation cost" for Germany's industrial electricity users, Grossmann, who heads the country's second-largest utility, said in an interview at an energy conference in Berlin yesterday. "We hope to carry on our nuclear operations in Germany." RWE and competitor Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG are trying to build support before Merkel's September re-election bid. While she's in favor of extending nuclear power plants, her Social Democratic coalition partners oppose it. If she's able to form a partnership with the liberal Free Democratic Party, that may open the way to keeping reactors operating beyond 2021. "We don't need to mention that I would be in favor of extending the lifespan of nuclear power plants," Merkel told delegates at the conference.