Nuclear power plant opponents lose dispute over the operation of Neckarwestheim 2
Created: 2022-12-15, 2:22 p.m
The Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant from the outside.
© Bernd Weißbrod/dpa
Two residents of the Neckarwestheim 2 nuclear power plant have failed in court with their lawsuit against its continued operation.
The administrative court (VGH) announced on Thursday in Mannheim that the lawsuit would be rejected.
The private individuals are demanding that the Ministry of the Environment, as the nuclear supervisory authority, take the pressurized water reactor off the grid and revoke the operating license granted in 1988.
Mannheim - Four months before the final shutdown of the Neckarwestheim 2 nuclear power plant, experts from both sides exchanged blows on Wednesday before the VGH about safety standards for nuclear power plants and compliance with them.
One of the two plaintiffs, who lives 15 kilometers from Neckarwestheim, stated on site that he did not want to give in, even in view of the upcoming official shutdown.
"The catastrophe can happen any day." The opponents of nuclear power do not rule out a nuclear meltdown.
In the opinion of the residents supported by the anti-nuclear organization "broadcast", Block 2 has been in continuous emergency operation since 2018.
At that time, hairline cracks were discovered on the heating pipes in the four steam generators.
Their number is now over 350.
The representatives of the defendant Ministry of the Environment, on the other hand, saw no reason that would justify an early shutdown.
The plaintiffs, on the other hand, consider it not improbable that there will be breaks between the revisions of the system.
From the Ministry's point of view, the wall thickness is sufficient and weak points would be quickly remedied.
In April 2022, the VGH had already rejected an urgent application for the temporary cessation of operations.
The 10th Senate justified this by saying that the narrow requirements for this were not met.
Success in the main proceedings is not likely and the applicants are not threatened with any existential dangers to life and limb.
The nuclear power plants Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland should have been taken off the grid on December 31 of this year.
Because of the strained energy supply, they should now be able to continue running beyond the end of the year until April 15, 2023.
Electricity production in Block 1 Neckarwestheim had already ended in 2011 after the federal government decided to phase out nuclear power in Germany as a result of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The appeal to the Federal Administrative Court was not admitted.
On the other hand, a non-admission appeal can be filed with the Federal Administrative Court within one month of the delivery of the complete judgment (Az. 10 S 4004/20).
The reasons for the verdict have not yet been published.
dpa
