Rosatom specialists spotted at a factory in Germany

The Ministry of Environment of the German federal state of Lower Saxony has confirmed information that engineers from the Russian concern Rosatom have arrived at the Advanced nuclear fuels (ANF) nuclear fuel production plant in the city of Lingen. This was reported by the broadcasting company NDR.

Rosatom specialists are taking part in training the factory’s personnel, said a representative of the French concern Framatome, which owns ANF.

Cooperation between the Lingen factory and the Russian concern has not yet been approved by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Environment. According to his information, Russian engineers are located in a workshop outside the factory’s production area.

The German subsidiary of the Framatome concern should produce Russian-style nuclear fuel elements for European nuclear power plants. They are used in VVER reactors. Framatome told NDR that the workshop is testing equipment that will later be used to produce fuel elements – fuel devices in nuclear reactors.

The fact that Rosatom engineers arrived in Germany was previously reported by environmental initiatives. According to their information, three containers from Russia have also been located at the factory since mid-April. Activists suspect that machines and equipment or other parts were brought in to expand production at the Lingen factory.

The Lower Saxony Ministry of Environment is critical of the possibility of cooperation with the Russian side. There are allegations of the possibility of sabotage at all European nuclear power plants that depend on the Lingen plant. However, the nuclear control agency has no ability to intervene in the process if the training takes place outside the production workshops, the ministry said.

There are 19 Russian-style VVER reactors in the European Union that use similar fuel rods. Russian uranium is not yet included in the EU sanctions lists.