Germany will show the world how abandoning nuclear energy can be done with a phase-out system that other countries will hopefully emulate.
 
The decision to stop using nuclear energy was made because of its inherent risks. Germany will expand use of renewable energy to meet its power demands instead.

The transition to renewable energy was supposed to take place over the next 25 years. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called recent events in Japan a "catastrophe of apocalyptic dimensions". Germany's change-over is being accelerated because of Japan's nuclear disaster plant disaster.