Poll: Germans oppose nuclear power extension

Image via WikipediaA majority of Germans oppose government plans to put off a shutdown of the country's nuclear power plants by an average 12 years, according to a poll released Friday.
The poll for ZDF television found that 61 percent opposed the plan announced earlier this week to undo a previous government's decade-old decision to shut down all German nuclear plants by 2021.
The poll of 1,221 people -- conducted Tuesday through Thursday -- found that 33 percent supported the change.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has portrayed the change as a way to keep energy cheap until more renewable energy is available. Merkel has described nuclear power as a "bridging technology" and there is no talk of Germany building any new nuclear plants.
Nuclear energy has been unpopular in Germany since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

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