Germany Seeks to Block Project with Rosatom Through the Courts
The German environmental organization Bund Niedersachsen has filed a lawsuit against the federal state of Lower Saxony. Environmental activists are demanding that the permit to expand the nuclear fuel production plant in Lingen—as part of a project linked to the Russian state-owned corporation Rosatom—be revoked.
As a result, cooperation between European companies and the Russian state-owned corporation could be threatened by a court injunction.
The lawsuit challenges a permit issued by the Lower Saxony state government to a subsidiary of the French company Framatome to produce nuclear fuel rods in Lingen under licenses from Rosatom.
The Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment, following the recommendations of the federal ministry responsible for the matter, granted the permit, stating that there were no legal grounds for denial.
Bund, together with the anti-nuclear organization Ausgestrahlt, claimed that the permit was issued due to procedural errors and that it would pose a security threat because of the involvement of a Russian state-owned company in the project.
In its complaint filed with the Higher Administrative Court of Lower Saxony in Lüneburg, the group asserts that the environmental impact assessment was based on outdated documents and that Rosatom’s involvement was not fully disclosed in the submitted materials.
Activists have expressed concern about the security risks posed by such cooperation, especially in light of Russia’s hybrid attacks against Germany.
“Russia continues its aggressive war against Ukraine, while dangerous attempts at sabotage are on the rise in Germany. However, while the European Union is trying to stop Russia’s ‘shadow fleet,’ the Russian state-owned corporation Rosatom is simultaneously gaining access to critical infrastructure in Lingen. This strengthens Russia’s interests and influence in Germany and Europe,” said Bund Chairman Olaf Bandt.
The nuclear fuel production plant in Lingen is operated by ANF, a subsidiary of the French company Framatome. The plant has been in operation for over 45 years, and numerous violations have been recorded there in recent years. According to the permit granted, the company plans to expand production through cooperation with Rosatom.
ANF has submitted an application to produce hexagonal nuclear fuel elements for Russian-designed reactors. VVER-type reactors are in operation, in particular, in five Eastern European member states of the European Union. For a long time, due to the unique hexagonal design of the fuel elements, they were supplied exclusively from Russia. Thanks to Franco-Russian cooperation, fuel elements for Eastern European nuclear power plants will be manufactured in Lingen.
The group announced this on its website.
Rosatom has halted the construction of a nuclear power plant in India, and the Russian business sector’s debt has risen to 9 trillion rubles.
The U.S. has not yet been able to completely phase out Russian enriched uranium, which is used as fuel for nuclear power plants. Despite plans to end such purchases by 2028, the American energy sector still relies heavily on supplies from Russia. According to Bloomberg, Russian uranium enrichment services accounted for about a quarter of all such purchases by U.S. nuclear power plant operators in 2025.
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