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Scholz’s office said he announced the decision in a letter to the Cabinet, an unusual move reflecting the deep divisions that had riven his junior coalition partners on the issue in recent weeks.

The environmentalist Greens, led by Economy and Energy Minister Robert Habeck, had argued that beyond the scheduled shutdown on Dec. 31 to ease possible power shortages over the winter.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the pro-business Free Democrats had suggested all three — including the Emsland reactor in the northwest — should stay online, even beyond April if necessary. Some Free Democrats had even called for to be powered up again in the face of high energy prices and possible blackouts.

Successive German governments have committed to ending the country's use of nuclear power by the end of the year as part of its transition to safe, renewable energy.

But the war in Ukraine, which has resulted in a , prompted Germany to reactivate old coal and oil-fired power plants. Climate activists such as Sweden's Greta Thunberg, and others, have argued that it's a mistake for Germany to switch off its existing nuclear plants if that means burning more .

Experts say the nuclear power plants are mainly needed to maintain grid stability at times of high electricity demand — including from neighboring France, whose own nuclear reactors have .

In addition to temporarily extending the lifetime of Germany's nuclear plants, Scholz said his Social Democrat-led government will propose “ambitious" legislation to increase energy efficiency, enshrining in law a plan to and building new power plants that can burn hydrogen.

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