Utility sues German state over nuclear closure

BERLIN

German utility RWE AG says it has filed a lawsuit against the government's decision to take older nuclear power plants temporarily off the grid in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster.

Spokesman Martin Pack said Friday the company questions the legal basis behind Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to shut down plants built before 1980 for three months pending safety investigations.

The lawsuit -- formally directed against Hesse state where the company's affected reactor is located -- was filed at the administrative court in Kassel.

The company says its reactors meet all safety requirements and the government's decision "therefore lacks a legal basis."

Merkel announced the shutdown of seven of the country's 17 reactors after Japan's earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima facility.