Angela Merkel changed her tune on continuing to use nuclear energy following the Fukushima disaster in 2011
A few days after an earthquake and tsunami, over 40,000 protesters in Germany formed a 45-kilometer (28-mile) human chain from the city of Stuttgart to a nearby nuclear plant to demonstrate against the government's plans to extend the life of Germany's nuclear power plants.
A few months later, Merkel did a complete about-face on nuclear energy. On June 30, 2011, Berlin ordered the immediate shutdown of eight of the country's 17 reactors. The decision also outlined a timeline for taking the rest of the nuclear plants offline by 2022.
Over 80 percent of parliamentarians in the Bundestag passed the nuclear phase-out plan. Only the Left party voted against the measure, saying they wanted a faster timeline.
Germany′s nuclear phase-out explained | German election 2017 - All the news, data and facts you need | DW | 15.06.2017
https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-nuclear-phase-out-explained/a-39171204