EU has never sanctioned Russia’s nuclear sector. Activists say that gap just let Rosatom into German plant, and they’re suing to close It

A German environmental group is going to court to stop Russia's state nuclear corporation from helping run a nuclear-fuel plant on German soil. BUND Niedersachsen has sued the state of Lower Saxony to overturn a July permit allowing the Lingen plant to produce Russian-designed fuel under a license from Rosatom, arguing that the arrangement gives Moscow access to critical infrastructure in the middle of its war on Ukraine.

The case turns on a gap in Europe's sanctions. Germany approved the deal not because it wanted Rosatom in Lingen, but because the European Union has never sanctioned Russia's civilian nuclear sector, leaving no legal grounds under German nuclear law to refuse, according to the Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Climate Protection of Lower Saxony.

BUND wants a court to override that logic. The July permit allows Advanced Nuclear Fuels, a subsidiary of France's Framatome, to expand the 45-year-old plant to build hexagonal fuel assemblies for Soviet-designed VVER-1000 reactors under a license from TVEL, Rosatom's fuel division, the trade journal Nuclear Engineering International reported.

BUND warns of Russian access

The group frames the deal as a security breach dressed as an energy contract.

Russia is continuing its war of aggression against Ukraine, and dangerous sabotage attempts are increasing in Germany, said Olaf Bandt, head of BUND's national organization.

"The EU is trying to stop the Russian shadow fleet. At the same time, Russia's Rosatom is gaining access to critical infrastructure in Lingen," he added.

Because both production and part of the quality control run on Rosatom-supplied equipment, Bandt argued, the process could be manipulated.

Susanne Gerstner, who leads BUND in Lower Saxony, said Rosatom's role was never fully disclosed in the application and that the operator hid material information from the public.

The permit came with limits

Lower Saxony's Green environment minister, Christian Meyer, has said he personally opposes doing business with Rosatom but that, absent sanctions, he had no legal basis to reject the application, which a federal security assessment had cleared.