Despite a commitment in the coalition agreement, the Union blocked a law that aims to prevent the supply of foreign Old Nuclear power plants with German fuel rods.

it Is also supplied with fuel from Germany: the breakdown of the reactor in the Belgian Doel photo: Jochen Tack/imago

BERLIN taz | It is not just a lot of what the Union and the SPD for this term in the nuclear policy. Only one of 175 pages devoted to this topic in the coalition agreement. One of the few concrete announcements, which is found therein, reads: "We want to prevent nuclear fuel from German production in plants abroad, their safety is from the German point of view is doubtful, come in." However, after the legislative session is half is still unclear whether this promise is actually being implemented.

The facility, on which the coalition agreement refers to, is in the fuel elements factory in the Westphalian town of Lingen. From there, Nuclear power plants are to be supplied, which are close to the German border and its security, there are doubts about the reactors of Doel in Belgium or in the French Cattenom. Not only the SPD, the greens, the Left and many Anti-nuclear initiatives to disrupt these exports; also in North Rhine-Westphalia, the CDU-Prime Minister Armin Laschet called on the Federal government repeatedly in the past, "to give no further approval of the delivery of fuel elements" into neighboring Belgium.

However, at the Federal level, the Union blocked the implementation of this requirement in the past. The first proposal from the Ministry of the environment, to close the fuel elements factory in Lingen and the uranium factory in the middle Gronau against compensation completely, was already vetoed by the Ministry of economy. As an alternative solution, the house of environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) has submitted in December a draft law to limit exports.

you were Banned at all of the reactors, which are less than 150 kilometres from the German border, and prior to 1989 have been added. In addition to Doel and Cattenom, the would be, among other things, on the Nuclear power plant in Tihange (Belgium), Fessenheim (France), Temelin (Czech Republic) and Beznau (Switzerland).

However, this bill has failed because of resistance from Peter Altmaier (CDU), led the Ministry of economy so far into the Federal Cabinet. The Ministry would not comment on the request the reasons. "We are to the draft, in coordination with the Ministry of environment and other relevant ministries," said a spokeswoman only.

Once at the working level, no agreement could be reached, want to deal with it after taz information on this Thursday, the state secretaries of the ministries involved in order. Jochen Flasbarth, state Secretary in the Ministry of the environment, is pushing for an agreement. "The coalition agreement gives the Federal government a clear mandate," he told the taz. "An objective criteria-knit export of things politically and legally, the only way to go with this order in a timely manner can be implemented is a ban according to the situation."

not only from the Union, there are resistance to the export restrictions. With the owner of the fuel elements factory in Lingen, the French state-owned company FRAM atom, is not likely to arrive this Plan well. Already in the summer of 2018, the competent Federal office due to incomplete documents are not issued, the transport permit for some of the exports are immediately sent to the company immediately lawyers in the track, which turned on the policy, and with high claims for damages threatened.