On Saturday, Rainer Bruederle, Economy Minister, suggested the Government to run the German nuclear power plants for an extended period of 12 years, which are likely to get closed down in 2012, as they are a cheapest alternative.

Telling to Wirtschaftswoche, he said, "Research into different scenarios showed the economic advantages are greatest if nuclear power is extended by 12 to 20 years compared to extensions at either extreme, such as just four years or as many as 28 years".

The nuclear power tax that the Government is proposing to levy on nuclear plants to aid an austerity programme with an amount of 2.3 billion euros annually has raged the operators of 17 nuclear plants of Germany and has entangled them with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The nuclear fuel tax has been opposed by E.ON, RWE, Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg and Vattenfall in a campaign. In fact, they demanded a tax-deductible fixed charge. They have also warned Government of reductions in the investments at plants, if the tax gets implemented.

Merkel and major cabinet members are supporting an option of extending the operation of nuclear plants by 10 years only, as reported by the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper.

The Government may alter the decision on the extension of the plants, on account of the reports presented by experts with four different scenarios regarding the nuclear plants on Friday, as told by Merkel in a news conference.