13 May 2013

UAA-Gronau: NRW atomic bomb manufacturer in great demand!

Horst Blume

Shortly after the disaster in Fukushima, 15.000 people demonstrated in Gronau against the continued operation of the uranium enrichment plant (UAA) in Gronau. This supplies the fuel for around 35 nuclear power plants worldwide - although the Federal Republic of Germany has supposedly said goodbye to nuclear power. An obvious contradiction. And although the red-green state government of North Rhine-Westphalia also wanted to get out of nuclear energy, in 2005 it agreed to a significant expansion of nuclear capacities in the UAA. Another contradiction.

The mountain of nuclear waste is growing despite the "exit"

The question of nuclear waste disposal is completely unsolved at the UAA. A new uranium waste storage facility for 2014 tons of uranium oxide is to go into operation in Gronau in 60.000. 27.000 tons of uranium waste are already stored in Russia. At the moment the radioactive waste is still going to France. There is no viable overall concept for the safe disposal of nuclear waste. Nevertheless, new nuclear waste is constantly being produced in the uranium enrichment plant in Gronau and in the current nuclear power plants.

Resistance camp in Gronau in July 2013

The protests against the uranium enrichment plant in Gronau, but also against the sister company in Almelo in the Netherlands, as well as against the international operator group Urenco, continue in many ways. For almost 27 years, anti-nuclear power initiatives have been meeting on the first Sunday of each month for a Sunday stroll at the Gronau uranium enrichment plant, and from July 19 to 27, 2013, a nationwide anti-nuclear summer camp will take place near Gronau. The reasons to do something against the UAA are not only increasing because of the growing nuclear waste: The UAA is to be sold soon.

Cutbacks in security requirements?

After the British government announced that it wanted to achieve around 3,5 billion euros from the sale of its one-third stake in Urenco, it is to be feared that possible buyers for this very high selling price will be bought by the current Urenco owners - in addition to the British state, the Dutch state as well as EON and RWE - could possibly ask for serious concessions.

The federal government is sitting at the negotiating table as a possible veto power, because after all it is Urenco that develops and builds uranium enrichment centrifuges in Gronau and Jülich together with Areva. Possible points of contention in future sales negotiations are likely to be the militarily relevant aspects of uranium enrichment. So the unrestricted access to the very explosive centrifuge technology, as well as the possible further spread of the uranium enrichment technology suitable for the atomic bomb construction. Just recently, the head of the Federal Waste Disposal Commission, Michael Sailer, declared: "Uranium enrichment is the quickest route to the atomic bomb."

Protest at the shareholders' meeting in Essen

Since EON, as one of the leading nuclear groups in Europe, has a stake in the UAA Gronau together with RWE, opponents of nuclear power plants protested at the EON annual general meeting on May 3, 2013 in Essen. Your criticism: Instead of shutting down the uranium enrichment plant in Gronau, the stake in the operating company Urenco is now to be silvered through a sale. This means that EON and RWE are shirking their responsibility. There is a risk that if there is a change of ownership, further reductions in security requirements will be the consequence.

Unclear role of governments

EON boss Johannes Teyssen announced at the EON action meeting that there would be an "open tender" for an "open bidding process" for the sale of Urenco shares. The previous Urenco owners - in addition to EON, RWE as well as the British and Dutch states - agree, according to Teyssen, on the procedure and would now "define criteria" to regulate participation in the procedure and the requirements for successful applicants. Exclusion criteria for potential buyers were not mentioned at the shareholders' meeting. It is still completely unclear whether the NRW state government has a reliable legal remedy in hand with the so-called "letter of comfort" for the "disposal" of nuclear waste issued by EON and RWE.

The role that the federal and state governments play in sales remains obscure. “In the end, are private investment funds and pension funds actually allowed to participate in Urenco and thus gain access to a technology that can pave the way to the atomic bomb? How can you check who is actually behind a bidder? Selling Urenco is a game of vabanque - the only safe solution is the immediate shutdown of the uranium enrichment plant, ”says Udo Buchholz from the Federal Association of Citizens' Initiatives Environmental Protection (BBU) and member of the local Environment Working Group (AKU) Gronau.

In the meantime, various corporations and consortium models around the world are being traded as interested UAA buyers. Maybe there are some from Pakistan, Iran or North Korea, who knows?

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Further to: Newspaper article 2013

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