Poll shows German opposition to nuclear power is crumbling

Berlin - Long-standing German opposition to nuclear power is crumbling, although opponents of nuclear power remain in the majority, according to a new poll published Thursday. The poll, commissioned by national public broadcaster ARD, found that 51 per cent of those surveyed wanted Germany to stick by its commitment to phase out nuclear power by 2021. But 44 per cent of the 1,000 people polled by Infratest dimap said they now believed the decision to abandon nuclear power was wrong. The figures was up 8 percentage points from December 2007. Christian Democrat (CDU) Chancellor Angela Merkel is bound by the coalition deal struck with the Social Democrats (SPD) to stick by the phase-out, passed into law under the previous SPD-Greens government of Gerhard Schroeder in 2000. But the chancellor and her party have become... [read full story]