Minister signals German trust could handle nuclear waste storage

German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks attends a cabinet meeting in the Chancellery in Berlin, December 3, 2014. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany could share responsibility for phasing out nuclear power with energy firms by setting up a publicly managed trust, the environment minister said on Sunday.

Barbara Hendricks' comments to Deutschlandfunk radio follow calls by Germany's top energy firms utilities on Berlin to help handle the country's nuclear exit and set up a trust for decommissioning plants and the storage of radioactive waste.