A nuclear reactor will not be kept on standby for Germany's winter months, the network agency has decided. Threats to grid stability are real, it said, but more fossil fuel and grid improvements should ensure power supplies.

Up to 11,000 jobs are under threat as EOn moves to meet the challenges posed by Germany's new nuclear policy. Only yesterday another utility, RWE, announced the shutdowns had so far cost it €900 million.

Italians have voted overwhelmingly against a return to nuclear power, repealing regulation that allowed for the construction of new reactors in a national referendum.