Environmental advocacy group BUND (Friends of Nature Germany) North Rhine-Westphalia has voiced strong criticism regarding the recent authorization of Castor casks transport from Jülich and Garching to the Ahaus interim storage facility. According to BUND’s managing director, Dirk Jansen, the decisions made by federal and state governments, alongside the BASE regulatory authority, have eroded public trust.
Jansen argues that the nuclear transport is not unavoidable, highlighting the potential for retaining the casks in Jülich and constructing a secure interim storage site there as a preferable solution. He contends that the approved transport merely postpones the inevitable, as the Ahaus facility also represents a temporary holding point. He anticipates numerous high-risk transport operations through the densely populated Ruhr area as a consequence.
A core concern raised by Jansen is the speed with which the transport permits were granted, bypassing a comprehensive legal review due to the immediate enforcement clause attached to the authorization. He asserts that BASE had the discretion to make a different decision, prioritizing the wellbeing of potentially affected residents and the environment. While acknowledging the BASE’s claim of limited discretionary power, Jansen specifically disputes its applicability to this portion of the permit.
BUND has announced it is currently evaluating all available legal avenues to potentially halt the transports.