German Environment Minister Trittin has weighed in on the debate over Berlin's mired sale of a plutonium factory to China

German Environment Minister Trittin has weighed in on the debate over Berlin's mired sale of a plutonium factory to China and warned plant owner Siemens it risks damaging its image if it goes ahead with the export. Germany’s controversial €50 million ($62 million) sale of a nuclear fuel-rod plant to China took a further twist on Saturday when German Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin warned plant-maker and electronics giant Siemens that it risked ruining its reputation if it pushed ahead with the export. "The heads of the company must decide whether the ensuing image-loss is greater than the financial advantages of the deal," Trittin told German daily Die Welt. The environment minister stressed that anti-nuclear demonstrators and citizens’ initiatives would "not pass up the chance to once again brand Siemens as a nuclear company" if the plant, designed to produce fuel elements from plutonium, was exported to China. Trittin reminded Siemens of its separation from nuclear subsidiary KWU years ago and said the motive for the pull-out at the time had been the realization that "the nuclear business only amounted for five percent of the company’s profits, whereas it made up 50 percent of the criticism that Siemens had to face."