A new offer from German power company RWE allows consumers for the first time to select a zero-carbon energy scheme fueled mostly by nuclear sources. But as Germany erupts in anti-nuclear protests, the company may be courting a backlash.

Germany's nascent nuclear renaissance is going commercial. Earlier this week, on the same day that police clashed with thousands of protesters trying to block a delivery of nuclear waste headed for a radioactive dump near the northern German town of Gorleben, a power company released a new energy product designed to capture the business of what it claims is a growing community of pro-nuclear consumers.

German consumers of electricity will now be able to choose a "Pro-Climate" package heavy on atomic energy. "Pro-Climate Power" is the name of the new electricity service available from RWE, one of Europe's largest electricity providers and based in the western German town of Essen. The service provides consumers with an electricity cocktail that derives 68 percent of its power from nuclear sources and 32 percent from hydroelectric energy sources. Although the plan is slightly more expensive than traditional packages, RWE is betting that consumers concerned about global warming will be willing to spend a little more to shrink their carbon footprint.

Back in 2000, when Germany was governed by ex-chancellor Gerhard Schröder's coalition of Social Democrats and Greens, the government pledged to phase out the country's nuclear reactors. Some have already been shut down, and the final reactor is scheduled to go off line in 15 years. Recently, though, a number of politicians in Germany, many of them from Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), have said they want to slow down the phase-out. Power industry lobbyists, in particular, would like to see reactor lifetimes extended because, once the costs of construction are paid off, nuclear power plants can generate huge profits.