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00:03 Report | Milto Schmidt
00:18 Jochen Flasbarth, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN)
01:29 Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at BMUKN

SCRIPT: 
​​0:01
This German factory has been making headlines across Europe. 
It's set to manufacture Russian-designed nuclear fuel rods, in collaboration with the Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom.
The approval of the plant has drawn fierce criticism from many quarters.
0:15 
+++ Oton Jochen Flasbarth, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN)+++
“It just isn't the time for a Russian company to be producing nuclear fuel elements here in Germany — not directly, but indirectly. We would have liked to prevent it, politically. The only mechanism that would allow for that is the EU’s sanctions regime. If nuclear technology and Russia’s nuclear sector were sanctioned at the European level, then it wouldn't be possible.”
0:41 The plant belongs to a French nuclear company that cooperates with a Russian partner. The future fuel assemblies are to be produced for nuclear power plants in Eastern Europe— Russian-designed nuclear power plants. The operator of the German plant declined to comment on camera to DW about the collaboration; in a written statement, it said:
1:01 +++Zitat Grafiktafel rein +++
“We strongly welcome this decision, which represents an important step toward European energy sovereignty and reflects our commitment to supporting the energy policies of European countries that operate VVER reactors.”
1:15 +++Graphic raus+++
For production, the German plant relies on Russian technology, Russian machinery, and much more. 
1:25 Oton Jochen Flasbarth, Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at BMUKN
"Ukraine itself has shown that it is possible to become independent of Russia's nuclear cycle. They have made that change. Of course, other Eastern European countries could do the same." 
1:36 To prevent espionage and sabotage, the following requirements, among others, are in place:
1:42 +++Grafik rein Auflistung++++++
Access for Rosatom employees only under supervision
Security review of the Russian-supplied components
Separation of Russian IT systems from the rest of the IT infrastructure
+++Grafik raus+++++
1:53 Oton Jochen Flasbarth, Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at BMUKN
"Of course, given the unique circumstances of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, we also examined whether this type of permit would pose an additional risk to the facility — for example, if Russian employees were to enter and exit the site. That has been prevented through certain conditions. All of this had to be carefully examined.”
2:13 Only once the EU agrees on sanctions in the nuclear sector could nations prohibti such cooperation. But due to their energy security concerns, Eastern European countries with Russian nuclear power plants have no interest in doing that.
END: 2:26min
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