On Wednesday, April 23, the Strasbourg administrative court ruled in favour of Greenpeace Luxembourg, condemning energy giant EDF for lack of transparency over the Cattenom nuclear plant. The court also ordered EDF to release documents requested by Greenpeace in 2023 over the state of the plant and other French nuclear facilities. EDF has two months to appeal the decision, though it is still unclear if it intends to challenge it. The dispute involves reports of corrosion at Cattenom, which is near the Luxembourg border, and several other nuclear facilities across France. In 2022, works to replace parts were carried out at Cattenom’s reactor no. 3, together with preventive measures at the plant’s other reactors. Parts used during the works were manufactured by the Italian company Tectubi, but inspectors of the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) noted shortcomings in the verification of the production process during an inspection of the plant. Greenpeace asked to see the documents about the parts and their installation at Cattenom, but EDF refused, citing “business secrecy” as the main reason. In April 2023, Greenpeace referred the matter to the Commission d’accès aux documents administratifs (Cada), the independent French authority responsible for ensuring access to public documents. The Cada ruled in favour of the environmental group, but EDF still refused to comply with the request. The case was brought before the Strasbourg administrative court, with the first hearing held in March 2025 and the final verdict presented a few days ago.
Greenpeace Luxembourg activist Roger Spautz welcomed the ruling as an “important victory”, noting how big companies in the nuclear sector constantly refuse to disclose information to his organisation. However, he recognised that Strasbourg’s court decision is unclear about the form in which EDF should present the requested documents to Greenpeace, leaving the possibility that they could omit important information. Spautz said he will check with Greenpeace’s lawyers to clarify the matter.
