Despite sanctions: German company wants to build fuel elements with Putin's nuclear group

In the town of Lingen in Lower Saxony, Advanced Nuclear Fuels GmbH (ANF), a subsidiary of the French nuclear group Framatome, has been producing fuel elementsassemblies for nuclear power plants in Europe in Lingen, Lower Saxony, since 1979. With the GermanGermany’s nuclear phase-out on 15 April 2023 -– when the last three German nuclear power plants, including the Emsland nuclear power plant directly atnext to the ANF site, were taken off the grid -– the domestic market for the company has largely disappearedlost its domestic market. HoweverEven before that, however, ANF had already begun to developtap into a new line of business segment: the production of hexagonal fuel elementsassemblies for Soviet-design pressurised water reactors of Soviet design (VVERVVERs), which are still in operation in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Finland. For a long time, these 19 reactors obtainedsourced their fuel exclusively or predominantly from Russia. According to the EUEuropean Commission, although all operators have now signed contracts with alternative suppliers, – but they are still heavily dependentrely to a considerable extent on Russian technology. The path out of dependencydependence leads viathrough Russia At first glance, the project seems to make senseappears reasonable in terms of energy policy: if Western manufacturers were to supply these fuel elementsassemblies, Eastern European countriesstates could reduce their dependence on Moscow. However,Yet this is precisely where athe contradiction lies -– because the pathroute out of Russian dependence is supposed to leadrun via Russian technology and Russian involvementparticipation. The basis for the project is based on a licence agreement fromconcluded in 2021 between ANF and the Russian state nuclear energy groupcorporation Rosatom and its subsidiary TVEL Fuel Company. ANF submitted the nuclear licenceits application for nuclear regulatory approval to the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment in March 2022 - just– a few weeks after the RussianRussia’s invasion of Ukraine. Since then, the processan approval procedure has been under way that is legally complex and politically controversialcontentious. "Not an everyday occurrence" 'No routine procedure' Formally, Lower Saxony is formally responsible, but in practice the state'’s room for manoeuvre is actually limited: the federal government has the final say rests with the federal government. In February 2026, Politico reported, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the federal government had givenissued Lower Saxony with a conditional recommendation forto grant approval subject to conditions. In response to an enquirya query from Euronews, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Ministry (BMUKN) wrote thatsaid it would not comment on details duringwhile the procedure is ongoing process. Lower Saxony'’s Environment Minister Christian Meyer (Greens) makes no secret of his scepticism: "'The application to convertswitch production to hexagonal fuel elements at the plant in Lingen plant to hexagonal fuel assemblies with Russian participationinvolvement is not an everyday occurrencematter and causesis causing me, and many citizens, serious concerns aboutconcern for internal and external security."' The project is highly controversial. More than 11,000 people and organisations havelodged written objections to oppose the project -it – an unusually high number for a nuclear approvallicensing procedure. According to an analysis (source in German) by the Federal Agency for Civic Education, Rosatom is responsible for both the civilian and military use of nuclear energy in Russia. Since 4 March 2022, the companycorporation has also controlled the occupied Ukrainian nuclear power plant in ZaporizhiaZaporizhzhia. Meyer also emphasiseslikewise stresses that many experts from Ukraine and Eastern Europe warnedwarn against the state-owned nuclear company beinggroup, which is directly involved in the war of aggression. The plan: Russian technology as a temporary solutionstopgap ANF and Framatome take a different view of the planproject. Mario Leberig, Vice President TechnologyEngineering at Framatome and responsible for the engineering division in Germany, described the project to the FAZ as an opportunity for greaterto boost energy security in Eastern Europe. An in-house development of the fuel elementsassemblies will not be ready for series production untilbefore 2030 at the earliest -– until then, ANF is relying on the Rosatom licence. The necessary machines are already in Lingen; according to the FAZ , around 20 Russian specialists handed over the equipment to ANF employees in April 2024. The Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment counters thisMinistry disagrees: "'How close licenceclosely licensed manufacturing and production with Russia - with– using Russian machines, expertiseknow-how and finished fuel elementsassemblies from Russia - can– is supposed to reduce dependence on Russian fuel elementsassemblies is not clear tobeyond us."' As an alternative model, it points to Westinghouse, which is already producesproducing hexagonal fuel elementsassemblies for Eastern European reactors in Sweden, is cited as an alternative model. Vladimir Slivyak is also expresses doubtsdoubtful. The co-chairmanchair of the Russian environmental organisation Ecodefense and winnerrecipient of the Right Livelihood Award lives in exile in Germany. He tells Euronews: "'Framatome cannot produce this fuel without Rosatom -– so the dependencydependence remains. What is being presented as diversification is in reality a continuation of dependence, with European companies skimming off part of the profits."' A political diversionsdetour via France? Slivyak also sees the construction of the project’s set-up as an attempt to circumvent political resistance. According to himhis account, the Germanfederal government at the time hadin office in 2022 rejected direct cooperation on German soil in 2022. As a result, theThe joint venture was re-established in Lyon -was then newly established – structurally identical, but as a French legal entity. Slivyak says: "'This is clearly a clear political diversionsdetour. Germany was reluctanthesitated to let Rosatom into its nuclear sector -– so Framatome simply moved the joint venture to France and brought it back by a differentin via another route. The RussianRussia’s role has never disappeared,; it was justhas merely been repackaged." Europe' Europe’s uranium imports: linksties with Russia remainendure According to research by public broadcaster NDR , Russia supplied around 68.6 tonnes of uranium to the Lingen plant in 2024 -– an increase of aroundroughly 66% compared to percent on the previous year. Across the EU, member states imported Russian uranium products worth more than 700 million euros in 2024, according to a joint study by the Kyiv think-tank DiXi Group and the Brussels-based economic institute Bruegel, based on Eurostat data. Rosatom: no breakthrough inOnly the 20th sanctions so far package targets Rosatom has remained largely unaffected bydirectly Through numerous sanctions packages, Rosatom remained untouched because states such as Hungary and Slovakia blocked corresponding measures. TheIt was only with the 20th EU sanctions package adopted in, presented by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on 6 February 2026 focussed primarily on a ban on maritime services for Russian crude oil and further banking measures - a ban on imports of Russian uranium or an explicit ban on new contracts with, that Rosatom and its subsidiaries was again not adopted– including TVEL – were explicitly included: new contracts are banned, and Russian uranium may no longer be imported. Transitional periods for existing contracts run until mid-2026. Whether the existing ANF–TVEL joint venture falls under this remains legally unclear. Framatome also refers toinvokes the 1957 Euratom Treaty of 1957, which, according to the company's own interpretation, protects existing nuclear co-operations as primary EU primary law is said to protect existing nuclear cooperation. When asked by Euronews, theThe Federal Environment Ministry signalledindicates, in response to a request from Euronews, that it would keep anis keeping a close eye on European developments at European level. "'The EUEuropean Commission has announced that it will present a specific draft regulation, as part of the RePowerEU strategy, it will present a specific draft regulation under which aims to gradually reduce imports of nuclear material and technology from Russia are to be gradually reduced,"' the ministry’s statement reads. However, the draft has not yet been submitted to the ministry. Environmental activist and Kremlin opponentcritic Slivyak is calling for more decisiveresolute action: "'The EU still has a window of opportunity -– but it musthas to act now: Nuclear co-operationnuclear cooperation with Rosatom and its subsidiaries must be endedend, combined with clear, time-limited transition plans for countries that are still dependent."' Lingen as an example of a largerbigger problem Formally, the decision on the controversial project is made in Lower Saxony -– but the state is acting on behalf of the federal government. Nuclear law is a federal matter: the federal government can instruct the state authorities inon all mattersquestions and has the final say. The basis offor the procedure is the so-called Roller report (source in German) , which the federal government commissioned at the beginningoutset and which recommends that issues of internal and external security arising from the joint venture with Rosatom be taken into account in the approvallicensing procedure. The federal government and its security authorities must decide whetherWhether the joint venture poses a concrete threatspecific risks to internal or external security -– through sabotage, espionage or Russian influence – is something that the federal government and its security authorities must determine.