BERLIN, Germany: One year before it halts its decades-long use of nuclear power, Germany has shut down three of the six nuclear plants it still has in operation.

“By significantly increasing renewable energy and accelerating the expansion of the electricity grid, we can show that this is possible in Germany,” said Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck.

The decision to phase out nuclear power and shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy was made by Gerhard Schroeder’s center-left government in 2002. His successor, Angela Merkel, reversed her decision to extend the lifetime of Germany’s nuclear plants after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, setting 2022 as the final deadline for shutting the nuclear plants down.

According to the Fraunhofer Institute, renewable energy sources delivered almost 46 percent of the electricity generated in Germany in 2021, but coal still accounted for more than 51 percent, while nuclear power provided over 13 percent.

Germany’s remaining three nuclear plants, Emsland, Isar and Neckarwestheim, will be gradually decommissioned by the end of 2022.

While some jobs will be lost, utility company RWE said more than two-thirds of the 600 workers at its Gundremmingen nuclear power station will continue to be involved in post-shutdown operations through the 2030s. Germany’s nuclear power companies will receive payments of nearly $3 billion for the early shutdown of their plants.

Environment Minister Steffi Lemke has dismissed suggestions that a new generation of nuclear power plants might prompt Germany to again reverse its decision.

This week, Lemke told the Funke media group, “Nuclear power plants remain high-risk facilities that produce highly radioactive atomic waste.”

A final decision on where to store the most potent nuclear waste produced in German power plants is still to be made, but experts stressed that some materials will remain dangerously radioactive for 35,000 generations.