A German environmental group has sued the state of Lower Saxony over its decision to let a French-owned nuclear fuel plant in Lingen expand production to supply Russian-designed reactors. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday at the Oberverwaltungsgericht in Lüneburg, challenges a licence granted in July 2026 to Advanced Nuclear Fuels GmbH (ANF), a subsidiary of Framatome, which plans to manufacture fuel elements in cooperation with a subsidiary of Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear corporation.
The case exposes an uncomfortable tension in German governance. Lower Saxony's environment minister, Christian Meyer of the Greens, approved the expansion while publicly denouncing the deal as politically indefensible. He has since written to the federal chancellery and two ministries asking whether recent security incidents have altered Berlin's risk assessment. The answer has not yet arrived.
What ANF and Framatome want to build
ANF already operates a fuel fabrication facility in Lingen, a town in the Emsland district. The approved expansion would add production lines for fuel elements designed to fit VVER reactors, the pressurised water technology developed by the Soviet Union and now manufactured and exported by Rosatom. VVER units operate across eastern Europe, including in EU member states such as Hungary, Bulgaria and Finland, as well as in Russia itself and beyond.
Framatome's plan depends on cooperation with a Rosatom subsidiary. Under the arrangement, Rosatom would supply machines used both in the fabrication of fuel elements and in parts of the quality control process. That dual role is central to the objections raised by BUND, Germany's largest environmental association, and by the anti-nuclear organisation Ausgestrahlt, which is supporting the lawsuit.
A minister who approved what he opposes
Christian Meyer's position is striking. In July, his ministry granted the licence with conditions attached. At the same time, Meyer publicly described business with Rosatom as "grundfalsch", fundamentally wrong, and argued that dependence on Russia in the nuclear sector must be reduced, not reinforced. He has not retreated from that view.
The state's justification is legal, not political. Lower Saxony argues that under the Atomic Energy Act (Atomgesetz), it had no discretion to refuse the application once the technical and safety requirements were met. The federal government, after its own review, concluded that no sufficient risks from espionage or sabotage existed. That federal assessment effectively tied the state's hands.
Meyer, however, is not letting the matter rest. He told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung that he had written to the chancellery, the foreign ministry and the interior ministry to ask whether the security evaluation had shifted in light of drone incidents at Leipzig Airport. The implication is clear: if the federal position changes, the state's legal room for manoeuvre might change too. International Energy Agency data on nuclear energy shows that Russian-designed reactors still supply significant electricity across several EU states, making the question of fuel supply a live strategic concern.
BUND's legal challenge
BUND and Ausgestrahlt filed their lawsuit on 10 September 2026. A court spokesperson confirmed receipt. The organisations advance two lines of argument. First, they allege serious procedural errors in the environmental impact assessment. Second, they warn that Rosatom's involvement creates geopolitical risk by giving Russia access to critical infrastructure inside Germany.
Olaf Bandt, BUND's federal chairman, put the point bluntly. Because both fabrication and parts of the quality control at Lingen would use Rosatom-supplied machines, he argued, production and inspection could be manipulated. "That raises serious security and foreign policy questions," he said. The organisations also point to a pattern of what they describe as increasing sabotage attempts on German soil, arguing that granting Rosatom a foothold in a nuclear facility runs counter to the direction of German security policy.
The federal security assessment under pressure
The federal government's conclusion that no sufficient espionage or sabotage risks exist is the keystone of the entire approval. Remove it, and the state's legal rationale collapses. Yet that assessment was made before the Leipzig drone incidents and before the broader escalation of concerns about Russian reconnaissance and sabotage operations across Europe.
Meyer's letter to three federal bodies is a calculated move. He is effectively asking Berlin to give him grounds to revisit the licence. If the interior ministry or the foreign ministry were to revise their security evaluation, Lower Saxony could argue that new circumstances justify fresh conditions or even revocation. Until that reply comes, the state is bound by the existing federal position. EU legal texts on nuclear safety establish a framework that member states must follow, but the specific licensing decision sits with national authorities.
What happens at Lingen now
ANF has applied for immediate execution of the licence, which would allow production to begin before the court rules. Meyer has said that for now, the fuel elements may not be produced. The court has not yet scheduled oral proceedings. It must first request the administrative files from Lower Saxony.
People mentioned
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Christian Meyer
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Olaf Bandt
Organisations
Advanced Nuclear Fuels GmbH · Framatome · Rosatom · BUND · Oberverwaltungsgericht Lüneburg
