Schroeder, whose is facing mounting dissent in his ruling coalition over the 50-million-euro (61-million-dollar) deal, told ZDF public television that German electronic giant Siemens had a legal right to export the atomic energy facility as long as it would not be used for military purposes.

"People in the government have long known that we must recognize this legal right," Schroeder said.

"There is no political decision to be made."

The interview followed Schroeder's huddle with Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, the strongest voice of the ecologist Greens, junior partners in the ruling coalition, to quiet the controversy.

Fischer acknowledged earlier this week that sometimes "bitter decisions" have to be made on foreign trade. Sources said Fischer, who is also vice-chancellor, accepted Schroeder's position on the deal at their meeting.

Schroeder noted in the interview that China had already guaranteed that the plant would only be for civilian use, dismissing concerns the facility could be used to help produce weapons-grade plutonium.

The chancellor has nevertheless come in for sharp criticism for backing the planned export of the facility at the same time Germany is gradually getting rid of nuclear power.

The Greens, the key force behind Germany's atomic energy pull-out, have demanded formal coalition talks on the deal, which Schroeder announced during a trip to China this month.

They see political hypocrisy in Germany exporting an energy source deemed too unsafe for its own backyard. Nuclear energy is scheduled to be phased out by 2020.

Schroeder has governed in a relatively stable coalition with the Greens since 1998 and few expect a full-blown power struggle over the dispute.

But the row comes at a time when Schroeder's approval ratings are scraping record lows and pressing issues including an uphill battle to pass an ambitious economic reform package and negotiations on a European Union constitution require his full attention.

Greens deputies said, however, that they would not go quietly and were angered by what they saw as the foreign minister's passivity. "I want to see Fischer fight," legislator Winfried Hermann told the daily Die Welt.

SPD parliamentary group leader Franz Muentefering, a key aide to the chancellor, told German radio Sunday that he saw no contradiction in the government's position.

"Dismantling atomic energy in Germany was never linked to putting on the pressure worldwide so that no other country can use nuclear power," he said.

He said that "all the members of the cabinet were informed about the export contract in time" and that there was no need for coalition talks over the dispute.

"The Greens have got to work it out among themselves -- it's all a bit of artificial excitement."

Although the center-right opposition parties have said they have no objection to the export, they announced they would call a special hearing at the lower house of parliament Wednesday to force Fischer to clearly state his position on the deal.

The plant at Hanau, western Germany, was built by Siemens in 1991 but never went into production, although the technical equipment remains on site.

A previous bid to sell it to Russia collapsed two years ago under pressure from, among others, the Greens.

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