As far security of supply is concerned, „I believe that especially from a global viewpoint, nuclear energy has a future in the short-term. Germany is well placed to contribute to the extraordinarily ambitious development of energy production from this technology in the foreseeable future. As far as the safety of nuclear power plants is concerned, Germany’s security of energy supply is well under control… In the present time, I consider nuclear as an essential contributor to security of energy supply.”…”I want Germany to remain a forward-looking country. Nuclear energy belongs to the future… I can say here that the current federal government is not unified on that subject and does not have the same views regarding the country’s future. Therefore energy policy will not be the main issue of the general elections’ campaign, but it will be one of the issues.” Angela Merkel, Germany’s Chancellor, on 1 July at the anniversary celebration of the German Atomic Forum