Greenpeace demonstrators mounted a giant anti-nuclear poster on the glass facade of the Berlin offices of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) while some 2,000 activists formed a human chain around the Bundestag lower house.

Inside, opposition Greens deputies wore black clothing and yellow "X" pins to underline their rejection of nuclear power, as Merkel's centre-right coalition passed a bill extending the lifetime of the 17 German reactors by up to 14 years.

"The government promised an energy revolution but this is a putsch here," said the head of the Greens' parliamentary group, Juergen Trittin, during a fractious debate before the legislation passed 308 votes to 289.

Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen from Merkel's CDU said Europe's biggest economy needed time to develop renewable energy sources and could not meet its energy needs in the coming years without nuclear power.

"Voters want future-oriented policies and not your partisan bickering," he shouted to the opposition, adding that they had proposed no viable alternative to the government's plans.

Merkel intends to channel some of the billions of euros (dollars) that utility firms will earn from the extension into solar and wind power.

The legislation would mean that Germany will still have nuclear power as part of its energy mix until around 2035. But it could still face a tough fight in the upper house, where Merkel's alliance lost its majority in May, as well as court challenges.

Due to strong public misgivings about the safety of nuclear power, the government in 2000 under then chancellor Gerhard Schroeder agreed to mothball the last power plant by around 2020.

Merkel's plans, which she hopes to pass into law by the end of the year, have revitalised the German anti-nuclear movement, which gained momentum in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Berlin against the extension in September, and protesters have warned of more to come, including next month against a shipment of highly radioactive nuclear waste from France.

They argue that it is irresponsible to promote nuclear power while there is no permanent storage site for the waste produced, either in Germany or anywhere in the world.

There are also concerns that nuclear power stations are sitting-duck targets for terrorists, as well as worries about the safety of some of the country's ageing plants.

earlier related report
Anti-nuclear activists go on trial in Turkey
Ankara (AFP) Oct 28, 2010 - Fifty-eight environmental activists, many of them Greenpeace members, went on trial amid protests Thursday for demonstrating in July against Turkey's plans to build a nuclear power plant.

The prosecution seeks jail terms of between six months and three years for the defendants under an article that punishes those who participate in unauthorised demonstrations and resist the police, a Greenpeace statement said.

Scores of fellow activists demonstrated outside the courthouse, condemning the Turkish government and unfurling a placard that read "We are also anti-nuclear, try us too!".

The activists were charged over a protest oustside the Turkish parliament on July 6 to denounce an accord that Turkey signed with Russia to build the country's first nuclear power plant.

"Similar anti-nuclear protests in the past were not taken to court... The government holds the primary responsibility for this attack on civic rights," the Greenpeace statement said.

The judge adjourned the hearing to January 12.

Under the deal with Russia, the plant will be built at Akkuyu, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

Turkey is also in talks with South Korea for a second reactor at the northern Black Sea coast.

The government plans to build a total of three nuclear power plants in hopes of preventing a possible energy shortage and reducing dependence on foreign supplies.

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