Germany Approves Controversial French-Russian Nuclear Project
The approval includes conditions limiting Rosatom access as critics warn the project could expose sensitive German nuclear facilities.
- On Wednesday, the Lower Saxony Environment Ministry approved a joint venture between French firm Framatome and Russia's Rosatom to produce nuclear fuel rods at the Lingen facility using TVEL technology.
- Environment Minister Christian Meyer stated he had "no legal possibility to reject or put a time limit to the application" due to absent EU sanctions on Rosatom, after Framatome's subsidiary ANF filed in March 2022.
- The approval mandates strict security protocols, including external audits of equipment and an entry ban for Rosatom and TVEL personnel, who may enter only "in very limited cases and accompanied by the relevant inspectorate."
- Roderich Kiesewetter, a prominent member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU party, condemned the decision, telling Politico it is "dangerous to security and must be reversed."
- Germany continues advocating for EU-wide nuclear sector sanctions, though no majority among member states currently supports such measures, leaving the project as an ongoing test of balancing energy security with decoupling from Russian technology.
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81 Articles
Germany approves Franco-Russian nuclear fuel project in Lingen despite political and expert criticism
German authorities have given the green light to a controversial Franco-Russian nuclear initiative in the federal state of Lower Saxony, despite sharp criticism from politicians and experts. The Ministry of the Environment in Lower Saxony, acting on behalf of the federal government, granted approval to Advanced Nuclear Fuels GmbH (ANF) to manufacture Russian-designed fuel assemblies at its Lingen plant in partnership with Russia’s state-owned Ro…
German approval of Russia-linked nuclear venture sparks warnings over espionage, Kremlin influence
The venture, approved on July 22, will see French company Framatome manufacture nuclear fuel rods and fuel assemblies designed by TVEL, Rosatom’s fuel subsidiary, at a factory in Lingen, Lower Saxony.
Germany broke with Russia in public—in private, the old reflex keeps finding a way
In July 2026, two things happened that the German government insists have nothing to do with each other. A German state licensed a factory to make nuclear fuel with Vladimir Putin’s atomic corporation. And a newspaper exposed a secret channel in Baku, where retired German grandees had been meeting Putin’s allies to talk about the war.Berlin is right: the two are unconnected. No shared actors. No money moving between them. Because the pull back t…
The Russian nuclear power company Rosatom received permission from Russian authorities to begin preparations for a new nuclear power plant. The oldest reactors in Kola date back to the 1970s.
Despite warnings of sabotage and espionage, a German state has granted permission for a company in Germany to cooperate with the state-owned Russian nuclear power company Rosatom, which is directly subordinate to Putin.
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