Germany approves controversial French-Russian nuclear project

BERLIN: German authorities said on Wednesday (Jul 22) they were giving the green light to a controversial French-Russian nuclear project which critics fear will enable spying and sabotage by Moscow.The planned joint venture by a subsidiary of French company Framatome and Russia's state-owned nuclear power agency Rosatom is aimed at producing fuel rods used in Russian-designed reactors.The project would be based at Framatome's fuel rod assembly facility in the town of Lingen in the state of Lower Saxony.Framatome's subsidiary ANF (Advanced Nuclear Fuels) applied for permission for the project in March 2022, just weeks after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The state's environment ministry said in a statement Wednesday it had "decided to approve" the project.This was despite