A row has broken out within Germany's recently elected coalition government over plans to phase out the country's nuclear power stations.

The German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, has accused his environment minister, Jürgen Trittin, of insubordination for his dismissal of two government advisory panels on nuclear energy.

Mr Trittin - of the environmentalist Green Party - accused the panels of pro-nuclear bias.

Correspondents describe the row as the first big inter-party clash since the centre-left coalition came to power.

They say it is partly about government policy and partly about Chancellor Schroeder's own authority.