Green light to file lawsuit against the ATC
Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2025 3:43 am
GREENPEACE - At the end of February, Greenpeace and Ecologists in Action announced the filing of an appeal to challenge the resolution on the ATC.
The process of searching for a site for the nuclear waste dump initiated by the Ministry of Industry and the National Radioactive Waste Company (ENRESA, which reports to the Ministry) has been characterized by a lack of transparency, the absence of public participation mechanisms, acting behind the backs of citizens, and the search for candidates, which has been negotiated in secret.
In this sense, the process can be considered illegal as it clearly violates the legal principles of access to information and participation of the Aarhus Convention, something that has already been explicitly recognized by the Parliament of Catalonia in its resolution against the installation of the nuclear waste dump in Catalonia, approved on March 11, with the votes in favor of the PSC-PSOE, CiU, ERC, and ICV, and no votes against.
Objections to the Selected Candidates
Greenpeace has also finalized the objections it will graphic design services send to the Secretary of State for Energy, Pedro Marín Uribe (who is also the president of the Interministerial Commission for the selection of the ATC site), following the opening on March 6 of a period for objections on the suitability of the nine current candidates to host the nuclear waste dump.
Greenpeace understands that, in addition to non-compliance with the Aarhus Convention, the Ministry has also ignored the rights recognized in Law 33/2007, of November 7, reforming Law 15/1980, of April 22, creating the Nuclear Safety Council, both in the preamble and in the articles.
Furthermore, Greenpeace adds that, despite more than two years having passed since the approval of the amendment to the aforementioned Nuclear Safety Law, the Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee, which the law itself provides as a highly relevant participation mechanism, has not been established, despite Greenpeace having filed several complaints. All of this implies the nullity of the procedure, pursuant to Article 62 of Law 30/1992 on the Legal Regime of Public Administrations and the Common Administrative Procedure.
"We ask President Zapatero to exercise democratic sensitivity and halt this process of searching for candidates for the nuclear waste dump, which has only generated social and territorial rejection and an enormous level of tension in the candidate municipalities and affected regions," stated Carlos Bravo, head of Greenpeace's Nuclear Energy campaign.
The environmental organization points out that all the autonomous communities in which the municipalities that submitted their candidacy to the Ministry of Industry are located have already expressed their rejection of hosting this nuclear waste dump within their territories.
The process of searching for a site for the nuclear waste dump initiated by the Ministry of Industry and the National Radioactive Waste Company (ENRESA, which reports to the Ministry) has been characterized by a lack of transparency, the absence of public participation mechanisms, acting behind the backs of citizens, and the search for candidates, which has been negotiated in secret.
In this sense, the process can be considered illegal as it clearly violates the legal principles of access to information and participation of the Aarhus Convention, something that has already been explicitly recognized by the Parliament of Catalonia in its resolution against the installation of the nuclear waste dump in Catalonia, approved on March 11, with the votes in favor of the PSC-PSOE, CiU, ERC, and ICV, and no votes against.
Objections to the Selected Candidates
Greenpeace has also finalized the objections it will graphic design services send to the Secretary of State for Energy, Pedro Marín Uribe (who is also the president of the Interministerial Commission for the selection of the ATC site), following the opening on March 6 of a period for objections on the suitability of the nine current candidates to host the nuclear waste dump.
Greenpeace understands that, in addition to non-compliance with the Aarhus Convention, the Ministry has also ignored the rights recognized in Law 33/2007, of November 7, reforming Law 15/1980, of April 22, creating the Nuclear Safety Council, both in the preamble and in the articles.
Furthermore, Greenpeace adds that, despite more than two years having passed since the approval of the amendment to the aforementioned Nuclear Safety Law, the Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee, which the law itself provides as a highly relevant participation mechanism, has not been established, despite Greenpeace having filed several complaints. All of this implies the nullity of the procedure, pursuant to Article 62 of Law 30/1992 on the Legal Regime of Public Administrations and the Common Administrative Procedure.
"We ask President Zapatero to exercise democratic sensitivity and halt this process of searching for candidates for the nuclear waste dump, which has only generated social and territorial rejection and an enormous level of tension in the candidate municipalities and affected regions," stated Carlos Bravo, head of Greenpeace's Nuclear Energy campaign.
The environmental organization points out that all the autonomous communities in which the municipalities that submitted their candidacy to the Ministry of Industry are located have already expressed their rejection of hosting this nuclear waste dump within their territories.