24 Jun (NucNet): The higher administrative court of Schleswig in Germany has annulled a licence for interim nuclear waste storage at the Brunsbüttel nuclear plant because of errors in the reviews of the issuing authority, the court said in a statement.
The court said the main objections of the plaintiff, a local resident, were that the risks of terrorist attacks had not been sufficiently taken into account before approval was given for interim storage.
In particular, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BFS) had not investigated the effects of an Airbus A380 crashing into the site or the use of modern armour-piercing weapons. Even though data was available for determining the results of attack with this type of airplane, it had not been analysed before approval for the facility.
An investigation into the consequences of an attack with modern anti-tank weapons was also not carried out by the licensing authority, although older types of weapons were taken into account, the court said.
The court said it accepted the argument that the use of newer armour-piercing weapons could have a significant effect on the outcome of such an attack.
The Brunsbüttel nuclear plant, on the north coast near Hamburg, has been permanently shut down since August 2011.
Initial approval for interim waste storage was granted by the BFS in November 2003.
In February 2004, a lawsuit was filed by a local resident in the Schleswig administrative court against approval for waste storage. The lawsuit failed because of the court’s original approval of the safety and reliability of the storage facility in January 2007.
The case was then appealed in the federal administrative court, which decided to send the case for reconsideration to the Schleswig administrative court. The decision can still be appealed to the federal administrative court.
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