It's because of stupid tribalism and hysterical non-thinking. When I was there 10 years ago it was really common to see the 'Atomkraft? - Nein Danke' stickers in public places. I guess when the position is held by a majority, that created an environment where people, especially policy makers, did not want to challenge it for they'll get excluded for wrong-think.

It is only changing because an even stronger fear (Putin) took hold.