06 Jun 2013
press release
Robin Wood
Federal Association of Citizens' Initiatives Environmental Protection (BBU)
Action alliance Münsterland against nuclear facilities
AKU (Working Group Environment) Gronau
SOFA (Immediate nuclear phase-out) Münster
Uranium enrichment: Urenco on the stock exchange?
NRW state government: Hedge fund participation conceivable
Nuclear opponent: "Uranium enrichment is not a toy"
The Dutch government, in coordination with the German government and the UK government, is considering a possible IPO of the uranium enrichment company Urenco. This emerges from a letter that has now become known from the Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem to the Dutch Parliament on May 23 (see source below). The anti-nuclear power initiatives in Münsterland, Robin Wood and the Federal Association of Citizens' Initiatives Environmental Protection (BBU) consider these plans to be irresponsible. They are demanding a clear veto from the federal government against the free sale of Urenco and also the immediate shutdown of the only German uranium enrichment plant in Gronau.
In the letter, Dijsselbloem announced that the parallel preparation of an initial public offering and a private sale should achieve a “maximum” selling price. With this, Dijsselbloem concretized statements made by EON boss Johannes Teyssen, who had announced an "open bidding process" in front of his shareholders at the beginning of May. EON and RWE hold the German third in the Urenco group.
The department head in the NRW Ministry of Economics, Michael Geßner, confirmed in an interview with Deutschland-Radio on May 29th that, with the procedure now planned, "it cannot be completely ruled out that hedge funds or pension funds could also acquire the (Urenco) shares" ( see source below).
“We are appalled by these stock exchange plans, because uranium enrichment is not a toy. In the case of an IPO, in principle anyone - be it through straw companies - can acquire the shares in the uranium enrichment company Urenco. In the end, it is impossible to control who has the majority at Urenco, ”says Udo Buchholz from the Federal Association of Citizens' Initiatives for Environmental Protection.
“Urenco's centrifuge technology can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons. With an IPO and the participation of hedge funds and pension funds, the non-proliferation of this militarily highly explosive nuclear technology would no longer be guaranteed, ”fears Dirk Seifert, energy officer at Robin Wood.
The Dutch government does not seem to be entirely at ease with its sale proposal. In his letter, Dijsselbloem lists no fewer than ten control options that the governments in Berlin, The Hague and London should keep, including the possibility of dismissing Urenco directors, controlling purchases and sales, inspecting the enrichment facilities and compliance with international (non-proliferation -) Obligations to control.
“It is very questionable how the three governments will implement all of this if they no longer own any shares in Urenco. Ultimately, it is to be feared that the state will lose control over Urenco and uranium enrichment. This means that serious security problems are inevitable ”, says Matthias Eickhoff from the Münsterland Action Alliance against Nuclear Plants.
Sources:
http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendungen/umwelt/2124050/
More info: www.robinwood.de/uran, www.bbu-online.de, www.sofa-ms.de, www.urantransport.de, www.aku-gronau.de
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Further to: Newspaper article 2013
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