Inside Story - The future of nuclear power

Germany's ruling coalition says it has agreed a date of 2022 for the shutdown of all of its nuclear power plants.

Environment Minister Norbert Rottgen made the announcement today, the BBC reported online.

Chancellor Angela Merkel had set up an ethics panel to look into nuclear power following the disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan. Over the weekend, dozens of environmental activists climbed on top of Germany's landmark Brandenburg Gate demanding a speedy end to the use of atomic energy.