Bowing to public and environmentalist pressure, the Dutch have phased out almost all nuclear power plants except the 450-megawatt Borssele, whose operator says its life could be extended by at least 20 years while keeping safety a priority.
Brinkhorst, a member of the centrist D66 - the smallest partner in the three-way Dutch coalition government, said in an interview with Reuters the government should stick to its target closure date of 2013 for now.
"The government agreement when we started in 2003 itself was that the power plant of Borssele shall be closed in 2013," said Brinkhorst, on a visit to Malaysia.
"For the time being, we stick to that and we will see what reasons there are not to fulfil the agreement."
Borssele, which produces some 4 to 5 percent of Dutch electricity, was built in 1973 and it was anticipated at the time it would have a 40-year lifespan.
Concerns about radioactive waste and the 1986 disaster at the former Soviet Union's Chernobyl plant have sparked widespread opposition to nuclear power in the environmentally-conscious Netherlands.
But there have been growing calls to keep Borssele open.
Van Geel told Reuters on Wednesday his government had only recently become aware of the huge costs of shutting down the plant and wanted to launch a public discussion on prolonging its life and investing the savings in renewable energy.
His comments echoed those of foreign minister Bot, who said the country should keep open its option of producing nuclear energy to offset a growing dependence on energy imports.
A recent Dutch opinion poll showed that 65 percent think Borssele can remain open while 23 percent say it should not.
Brinkhorst also said the government would proceed with a plan to make power utilities unbundle their grids from production activities in the absence of a better plan and despite vehement opposition from companies.
"Unbundling is part of the programme to make electricity energy more competitive for the consumer in the liberalised market," he said.
"We are now looking at alternatives but I haven't seen yet a feasible alternative. As long as I have not seen a feasible alternative we will continue with the unbundling."
The plan, which exceeds the European Union's requirement that energy production companies set up a separate legal entity for their networks, has been severely criticised by the utilities, which fear becoming easy take-over targets.
Utilities fear the loss of grid operations would weaken them financially and cause substantial costs, putting them at risk and making them vulnerable to take-over attempts.
The government will submit a draft law on the unbundling in March and make utilities separate their grid networks from production activities by January 2007.