You know, I really expected the Europeans to show more sense about this. Japan knew they were taking a risk when they built those reactors, but when was the last time Bavaria was rocked by earthquakes and Tsunamis?

Angela Merkel is expected to announce the suspension of plans to extend the life of Germany’s nuclear power stations, after the nuclear emergency triggered by Japan’s devastating earthquake.

After two hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi reactor in Japan, the German chancellor has decided to re-examine her highly controversial decision last year to renew the country’s 17 nuclear plants for an average 12 years, German media is reporting.

Government sources are reported to have said that Merkel took the decision on Sunday night after a crisis meeting at the Berlin headquarters of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. She is expected to confirm the suspension at a press conference with her foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, at 4pm (3pm GMT).

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In Monday’s newspapers, the opposition parties demanded a rethink on Germany’s nuclear policy. Sigmar Gabriel, head of the Social Democrat party, said: “We need to make clear that not only are the days of cheap oil over, but also the days of nuclear power.” The Left party demanded an “immediate, irreversible and systematic dismantling” of Germany’s nuclear power plants.

You know who is isn’t even waiting to see how the situation in Japan plays out to make emotionally charged decisions that will have a lasting effect on the future of our planet? The Swiss!

Switzerland has announced it is suspending plans to build new nuclear power stations. The Swiss energy minister, Doris Leuthard, said the suspension would affect all “blanket authorisation for nuclear replacement until safety standards have been carefully reviewed and, if necessary, adapted”. Swiss regulatory authorities had approved three sites for new nuclear power stations after the plans were submitted in 2008.