A "Bitter Decision" for Plutonium Plant Export to China

Despite political reservations, Foreign Minister Fischer has indicated he will decide in favor of exporting a German plutonium plant to China. There are "sometimes situations when one has to make bitter decisions," Fischer said on Thursday. Fischer stressed that in assessing the Chinese request it was essential to establish that military use of the facility would be impossible. He said that as an opponent of nuclear power he didn't think much of the plans to export the plant. To the outrage of many of Fischer's Green party colleagues, the Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Thursday that the foreign minister had already given the export a green light in October. But Fischer told reporters that the transaction was still being examined. During his visit to China, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said on Tuesday said that he didn’t see any reasons why it could not happen.