A nuclear power plant is pictured in Gundremmingen, southern Germany on Feb 26, 2021. (LENNART PREISS / AFP)

BERLIN - On the ten-year anniversary of the Fukushima reactor disaster in Japan, Germany's Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Svenja Schulze presented on Thursday a plan for completing the country's nuclear phase-out.

Although the nuclear phase-out in Germany was well underway, the country was still producing fuel elements for nuclear plants abroad and the plan advocated that the nuclear factories in the German cities Lingen and Gronau should be closed as well

The plan outlined the additional steps required to "minimize nuclear risks for Germany even after the last German nuclear power plants will be shut down at the end of 2022," according to the Ministry for the Environment (BMU).

"By shutting down Germany's last nuclear power plants next year, we will achieve a historic goal," said Schulze in a statement. "But nuclear risks remain that require further consistent steps: in Germany, in Europe and worldwide."

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Although the nuclear phase-out in Germany was well underway, the country was still producing fuel elements for nuclear plants abroad and the plan advocated that the nuclear factories in the German cities Lingen and Gronau should be closed as well.

The plan also urged for the expansion of renewables to be accelerated in Germany so that wind and solar could replace nuclear and coal even faster.

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Last year, renewable energy in Germany reached a new record share of 47 percent, up from 42.3 percent in 2019, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). With 25.6 percent, wind power replaced coal as the "most important energy source" in Germany last year.