(Office and first name Scholz added in the 2nd paragraph)

BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - SPD leader Lars Klingbeil has ruled out operating the three remaining nuclear power plants (NPPs) beyond April 15. "The debate has been decided. The chancellor has clearly decided that. Three nuclear power plants will continue to run until April of this year," Klingbeil said Monday after the party executive's annual kick-off meeting.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had decided the months-long coalition dispute over nuclear power plant lifetimes by exercising his authority to issue directives and setting April 15 as the phase-out date. That had been accepted by coalition partners the Greens and FDP, Klingbeil said. "There is nothing to shake about that either."

Last week, German Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) had suggested putting the decision on extending nuclear lifetimes in the hands of a commission of experts. "We don't need political bickering and cantankerousness now, we need an expert answer to the question of how we can ensure a stable and affordable energy supply and at the same time achieve our climate protection goals," Wissing told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. "If we don't want to discuss it politically, then we have to clarify it scientifically."/mfi/DP/stw