German City Ahaus Drops Legal Fight Over Bavarian Nuclear Waste Storage

The city of Ahaus has abandoned its legal opposition to the storage of nuclear waste from a research reactor in Bavaria at its interim facility. The city had sought an injunction through an expedited procedure at the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia to challenge the approval granted by the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (Base).

A spokesperson for the court confirmed that Ahaus withdrew its application on Thursday. The city stated that the decision was based on a perceived lack of success in their legal efforts. Base had issued a storage permit in August 2025 for the nuclear waste originating from Bavaria's Munich II experimental reactor.

This is not the first time Ahaus has legally contested the storage of nuclear waste. The city previously challenged the storage of 152 Castor containers from the Rhenish facility in Jülich, a legal battle it ultimately lost. In that instance, the Higher Administrative Court had ruled in 2024 that the waste could be stored in Ahaus.

The Ahaus interim storage facility holds legally binding permits for storing spent fuel elements from light water reactors and irradiated spherical fuel elements from the former thorium high-temperature reactor in Hamm, valid until December 31, 2036. Any additional nuclear waste, such as that from the Munich experimental reactor, requires Base to issue amended permits. The current case involved the tenth such amendment.