Overview

• BASE authorized the road transport of 152 Castor containers holding about 300,000 spent-fuel spheres from the former Jülich reactor to the Ahaus interim store, with the permit valid until 31 August 2027 under Sofortvollzug.
• Convoys are planned over roughly 170 kilometers through North Rhine-Westphalia, with 152 individual moves that could be bundled and four suitable vehicles available, while start dates depend on coordination with supervisory and police authorities.
• The Oberverwaltungsgericht Münster upheld Ahaus storage last December, and the immediate-enforcement order means court challenges would generally lack suspensive effect even as Ahaus officials explore legal remedies.
• Reactions range from NRW’s police union labeling the task a “sinnlose Mammutaufgabe” to environmental groups announcing resistance, while NRW minister Mona Neubaur calls the operation logistically demanding and says the state favored a new Jülich facility that lacked federal backing.
• BASE also approved two Garching-to-Ahaus road shipments covering ten fuel elements with validity to 31 May 2027, against the backdrop of no final repository and federal estimates that moving Jülich material to Ahaus saves roughly €450 million versus building a new store.