Residents' complaint - Court hears case on approval of nuclear waste storage facility
The safety of the interim nuclear waste storage facility in Gundremmingen, Swabia, has been under renewed scrutiny in court since Thursday. Several residents living near the storage facility have filed a complaint with the Bavarian Administrative Court (VGH) in Munich and are demanding that the Federal Republic revoke the 20-year-old license for the nuclear facility at the former nuclear power plant.
They argue, among other things, that the fuel element storage facility is not sufficiently protected against the crash of a large passenger plane or an armed military aircraft. At the beginning of the hearing, the judges discussed various legal issues with the parties in this complex process. For example, it was a question of whether the permit from 2003 should be grandfathered.
After the all-day hearing on Thursday, the VGH decided that the proceedings would be continued in writing. The ruling will therefore now be presented without a further hearing date. "It will take a few weeks," said a VGH spokesperson on Thursday evening regarding the timeframe.
The plaintiffs are hoping for success because of a ten-year-old ruling from northern Germany. In June 2013, the Higher Administrative Court in Schleswig overturned the approval of the interim storage facility in Brunsbüttel; the Federal Administrative Court later confirmed the decision. The judges had assumed that the Brunsbüttel interim storage facility had not been sufficiently tested against terrorist attacks such as the targeted crash of an Airbus A380 or an attack with armor-piercing weapons.
The federal operator of the storage facilities, BGZ Gesellschaft für Zwischenlagerung, had already rejected doubts about the safety of the storage facilities before the hearing in Munich. "The BGZ interim storage facilities are among the best-secured facilities in Germany," said company spokesman Burghard Rosen. Protection against terrorism is constantly checked and the buildings are retrofitted if necessary. Even in the event of an airplane crash caused by terrorists, there would be no danger to the people in the region.
The plaintiffs' lawyer, on the other hand, criticized the fact that many details on the issue of security were classified as secret by the authorities. Even in the court proceedings, expert reports were only partially presented. "Everything of substance has been blacked out," criticized the plaintiffs' lawyer. Under these conditions, it is ultimately hardly possible to conduct a trial in nuclear law in Germany.
In the early 2000s, the interim storage facilities were planned and built at the sites of the German nuclear power plants. The nuclear waste from the reactors is to be stored at the decentralized sites until a final storage facility is available in Germany. The VGH had already dismissed complaints against the storage facility in Gundremmingen and the two other interim nuclear storage facilities in Lower Bavaria and Lower Franconia in 2006.
The interim storage facility in Gundremmingen (Günzburg district) is currently licensed until 2046 for the storage of Castor casks containing the fuel elements. With a total of three nuclear reactors, Gundremmingen was one of the largest nuclear power plants in Germany and has been decommissioned for almost two years.
Information from the Federal Office on the Gundremmingen interim storage facility Overview of German interim storage facilities Information on the Brunsbüttel interim storage facility
Read also:
- A clan member is punished here
- Will he be convicted as Jutta's murderer after 37 years?
- He also wanted to kill his cousin
- With live stream! Gawkers film dying man
- The plaintiffs aim to revoke the license of the nuclear facility at Gundremmingen, citing concerns about the facility's vulnerability to large plane crashes or armed military aircraft attacks, as seen in the Brunsbüttel case where such concerns led to the facility's rejection.
- During the hearing at the Bavarian Administrative Court (VGH) in Munich, legal issues surrounding the grandfathering of the 2003 permit were discussed, with the plaintiffs arguing that it should not be applied.
- The judges in the Bavarian Administrative Court decided to continue the proceedings in writing, meaning a ruling will be delivered without a specified hearing date, taking a few weeks according to a VGH spokesperson.
- In 2013, the Higher Administrative Court in Schleswig rejected the approval of the Brunsbüttel interim storage facility due to insufficient protection against terrorist attacks, prompting the Federal Administrative Court to uphold the decision.
- The BGZ Gesellschaft für Zwischenlagerung, responsible for nuclear waste storage facilities, expressed confidence in the security of their facilities, citing constant checks and retrofitting measures in light of terror threats.
- The plaintiffs' lawyer criticized the classification of key security information as secret and the limited disclosure of expert reports during the court proceedings, asserting that it hampers thorough examination in nuclear law trials in Germany.
Source: www.stern.de
