Scholz dismisses talk of keeping nuclear energy option open in Germany

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is dismissing a junior coalition partner’s suggestion that the country should keep open the option of using its closed nuclear power plants. He declared in an interview broadcast Saturday that nuclear energy is a “dead horse” in Germany. Germany switched off its last three nuclear reactors in April, completing a process that had wide political support when set in motion after Japan’s Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster in 2011. But some argued for a rethink after energy prices spiked because of the war in Ukraine. This week, lawmakers from one of the governing parties said they want “to stop the dismantling of the nuclear power plants that are still fit to use” as part of efforts to be prepared for worst-case scenarios.