Court upholds ban on extension of Biblis A

28 February 2008

[Reuters, 27 February] The Administrative Court in Kassel, Germany, ruled that RWE may not extend the operation of its Biblis A nuclear power reactor. Under Germany’s nuclear phase out agreement, the operating life of nuclear power plants is limited by total output. RWE had applied for the transfer of 30 TWh of output from the Mülheim-Kärlich plant, which operated for only a short time in the 1980s before being permanently closed, to Biblis A. Without the transfer, Biblis A will operate until about September 2009. German legislation regarding nuclear power plants does not allow for this transfer, the court said. The court upheld a decision by the Environment Ministry that barred RWE from transferring unused generation capacity from one nuclear plant to another. RWE said that it plans to appeal the verdict at the Federal Administrative Court. The ruling coalition government is split between the Christian Democrats, who support an extension of the lifetime of nuclear reactors, and the Social Democrats, whose Sigmar Gabriel heads the Environment Ministry and opposes any extension. The latest ruling reduces hopes that RWE will be able to keep Biblis A operating until after the next general election in 2009, when an outright win by the Christian Democrats could result in a change in Germany's nuclear phase-out policy. RWE received approval from the German state of Hesse on 8 February to restart the Biblis A reactor after it had been out of service for one and a half years due to technical faults. Both Biblis A and B units were taken off line in October 2006 after faulty screw anchors that held piping and other parts in place were detected. Biblis B restarted in early December 2007.