BERLIN -- With the crisis in Japan raising fears about nuclear power, Germany and Switzerland said on Monday that they would reassess the safety of their own reactors. Doris Leuthard, the Swiss energy minister, said Switzerland would put off plans to build nuclear plants. She said no new ones would be permitted until experts had reviewed safety standards. Germany will put off "the recently decided extension of the running time of German nuclear plants," Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters. "This moratorium will run for three months and it will allow for a thorough examination of the safety standards of the county's 17 nuclear power plants. The European Union called for a meeting on Tuesday of nuclear safety authorities to assess Europe's preparedness. Germany's foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, called for a new risk analysis of the country's nuclear plants, particularly regarding their cooling systems. He is the leader of the Free Democratic Party, which strongly supports nuclear power. A previous government, led by the Social Democrats, passed a law in 2001 to close all the country's nuclear plants by 2021. But Mrs. Merkel's government changed that decision last year to extend the lives of the plants by an average of 12 years. In Switzerland, Doris Leuthard said she had already asked to analyze the exact cause of the problems in Japan and draw up new or tougher safety standards "particularly in terms of seismic  safety and cooling." In Russia, the Prime Minister said his government would "draw conclusions from what's going on in Japan." How will Germany react to Japan's nuclear crisis?
Germany will close all the country's nuclear plants. Germany will hold a meeting of nuclear safety authorities. Germany will change the decision made last year. Germany will delay the extension of nuclear plants running time.