Reply #3: As far as I understand

[Democracyinkind]

RWE is not challenging the "moratorium" (is that an expression used in english too, I forgot...??) per se but they are rather arguing that - absent of a change in the law (Atomgesetz)- that they are entitled to financial compensation for the period of the shut-down. With the law as it is, RWE actually has some merit. Then again, it won't be long and Merkels coalition will be history and the coming red-red-green coalition will definitely revise the Atomgesetz along the lines of what Schroeder did in 2002. Then RWE's claims will be moot, but then there will still be the question of compensation for the period leading up to that point. This could have been evaded if Merkels silly government hadn't tinkered with the Atomgesetz in the first place. The German nuclear industry is a scam that can only operate as long as any and all long-term costs are externalized... If RWE had to pay the full costs of dismantling its plants - let alone correctly disposing of all materials - they would never have built one in the first place.

Ah... Deutschland AG ... Where dreams of Mitteleuropa still rely on atomic power (pun intended for history buffs).