Lawsuits threaten to slow down german nuclear power plant construction

Germany's largest energy company also wants to make the dismantling of its decommissioned unterweser (lower saxony) and isar I (bavaria) plants dependent on the outcome of the constitutional complaint filed against the forced shutdown ordered by the government in 2011. "In order to preserve our legal position in these proceedings, final dismantling work can only take place after a court decision," an eon spokesman told the deutsche presse-agentur in berlin.

In energy circles, it was said that the attitude does not mean that there is any hope of restarting the plants if the new nuclear law is overturned. Experts stressed that a rapid, complete dismantling could weaken the legal position in the event of lawsuits and thus the claim for damages.

However, it is disputed whether the application for dismantling would already be associated with monitoring, i.E. The reactors would be formally abandoned, or only when the nuclear power plants are free of fuel and the excavators start rolling.

Legal proceedings could drag on for several years. Eon insists on compensation worth billions of euros. RWE, too, according to a spokeswoman on 9. February constitutional complaint filed. "The fact is, we have not yet decided how we want to carry out the dismantling," she stressed. Vattenfall is still considering a claim for damages, as is the baden-wurttemberg operator enbw.

So far, there have been no applications for the eight reactors shut down after the fukushima disaster to be dismantled – this was allowed to take well over a decade either way. A spokeswoman for federal environment minister norbert rottgen (CDU) emphasized: "the atomic energy act does not contain a specific date or time frame for the decommissioning or dismantling of a nuclear power plant."

The eon spokesman said that they are aiming for direct dismantling. In short, at least the applications for permission were made. However, the constitutional complaint is being pursued in parallel. "In our opinion, the withdrawal of the right to operate the nuclear power plants isar I and unterweser without appropriate compensation is unlawful"."

Opponents of nuclear power demanded that the dismantling of the plant not depend on the lawsuits. "Eon and co are delaying the demolition of the nuclear power plants in order to increase their chances of claiming damages," said the spokesman for the organization "ausgestrahlt," jochen stay. "We call on the power companies to refrain from their tactical games, to withdraw their lawsuits and to immediately initiate the dismantling of the nuclear power plant."

The grunen's nuclear expert, sylvia kotting-uhl, called for more speed. "The nuclear power plant operators must make the shutdown nuclear power plants free of nuclear fuel as soon as possible," she said. "As long as this is not the case, there will continue to be considerable security risks."It is gratifying that eon is now honest about the fact that the dismantling could be delayed because of the lawsuit. "But this is about legal tactics at the expense of safety".