German industrial giant Siemens (NYSE: SI) has decided to follow the lead set by the country’s government, and walk away from nuclear energy altogether.
"We will no longer be involved in overall managing of building or financing nuclear plants. This chapter is closed for us," CEO Peter Loescher told Der Spiegel in an interview published Sunday.
Since the nuclear disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant in March, public sentiment in Germany and other parts of the world has turned against nuclear.
Germany has already shut down several of its oldest nuclear reactors and passed legislation to phase out nuclear energy by 2022 and increase investment in renewable energy.
Siemens will no longer develop equipment used solely for nuclear power production, although equipment – such as steam turbines – that are used in nuclear, gas and coal plants will remain in the company’s portfolio.
Loescher says Siemens’ decision was "an answer to the clear position of society and politics in Germany on exiting nuclear power."
As part of the company’s decision, it will back out of a joint nuclear venture with Russia’s Rosatom.
Siemens is aggressively moving into many areas of green manufacturing including various renewable energies, smart grid and water technologies.
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