German industrial and engineering conglomerate Siemens is to withdraw entirely from the nuclear industry.
The move is a response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March, chief executive Peter Loescher said. He told Spiegel magazine it was the firm's answer to "the clear positioning of German society and politics for a pullout from nuclear energy". "The chapter for us is closed," he said, announcing that the firm will no longer build nuclear power stations. A long-planned joint venture with Russian nuclear firm Rosatom will also be cancelled, although Mr Loescher said he would still seek to work with their partner "in other fields". Siemens was responsible for building all 17 of Germany's existing nuclear power plants.
