BASF SE, the world’s biggest chemical maker, may withdraw genetically modified crop research from Germany in response to growing political opposition, Bloomberg reported.

The maker of the Amflora starch potato is considering the future of its research facility in rural Limburgerhof in southwestern Germany, said sources who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. A move to the United States is possible for the company’s plant biotechnology operations, which employ 700 people, said one of the sources.

Germany also plans to close all 17 of its nuclear reactors by 2022, exiting atomic power after a meltdown in Japan stoked safety concerns. The move has strengthened the Green Party, which rejects nuclear energy and is now a junior coalition partner in BASF’s home state. The risks of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are difficult to calculate, the Greens say.

“GMOs may be just like atomic energy,” said Ulrike Hoefken, the Green Party’s regional environment minister. “The risks are masked, and big benefits are claimed. But it’s the general public who is left with the costs for any damage.”

In related news, Monsanto Co., the world’s largest seed company, has pared plant development in Germany to a sole project with two test fields because the country’s “basic framework doesn’t lend itself to further products,” company spokesman Andreas Thierfelder said.

The flight of research means Germany may lose out on the $12 billion market for genetically modified plants, which is expected to grow 5 percent annually for the next five years, according to advisory firm Phillips McDougall.