Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet approved an extension of the lifecycle of Germany's 17 nuclear- power plants, rejecting public protests and opposition threats to challenge the government's plans in court.
Ministers meeting in Berlin ratified an accord forged earlier this month with the utilities E.ON AG and RWE AG to permit atomic plants to run eight years to 14 years longer. Merkel, whose coalition trails the opposition in polls, has said the aim is to build a "bridge" to renewable energies, which will benefit from plans also before Cabinet to levy 30 billion euros ($40 billion) from utilities.
