Berlin  - Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday emphatically rejected legislation passed by the previous government to phase out nuclear power by 2021, saying the decision was "absolutely wrong."

Speaking at a meeting of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister-party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), in the Bavarian town of Erding, the CDU leader said she believed a rethink was needed.

CDU and CSU leaders came out unanimously in favour of reversing the anti-nuclear law passed by the government of Gerhard Schroeder, who led a coalition of Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens until losing the September 2005 election to Merkel.

Merkel said that an affordable energy policy needed nuclear power, adding that Germany was the only country aiming to shut down safe nuclear plants.

She repeated her call for a mix of sources for energy generation, including fossil fuels, renewables and nuclear plants.

The SPD, junior partners in the ruling coalition, remain firmly against nuclear power, making reversing the law unlikely in the current legislative period. The next federal elections must be held by September 2009. dpa