Germany's tax on nuclear fuel is "unconstitutional and void", the country's highest court has ruled. German utilities may stand to be reimbursed some €6.3 billion ($7.1 billion) they paid between 2011 and 2016 as a result of the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling.

Despite Germany choosing to phase out its use of nuclear energy, the country must not lose its nuclear expertise, research and industry, writes Ralf Güldner.

Germany is offering a great opportunity for new suppliers of decommissioning services because over the next five years all of its shutdown nuclear power plants will enter the decommissioning phase, Jörg Klasen, director of nuclear decommissioning services at EnBW, said yesterday. Klasen spoke at the 8th Annual Nuclear Decommissioning & Waste Management Conference Europe 2017 being held in Manchester, England. Asked where they see the biggest opportunities in nuclear decommissioning and waste management over the next five years, 57% of the conference delegates selected Germany. The UK, France, Sweden and Switzerland followed with 30%, 6%, 2% and 2%, respectively.

The German government has reached an agreement with GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service mbH on transferring GNS's interim storage activities. Under legislation that came into force last December, the government assumed responsibility for the intermediate storage and final disposal of the country's radioactive waste.

The Baden-Württemberg ministry of environment has issued German utility EnBW a permit to decommission and dismantle unit 1 of its Philippsburg nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, dismantling of unit 1 at its Neckarwestheim plant has now officially begun.

Permits to decommission Germany's Biblis nuclear power plant are to be issued to RWE Power following approval of its plans by the ministry of the environment in the state of Hesse. The operation to dismantle the two reactors is expected to take about 15 years.

USA-based firms Bechtel and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) have today announced the formation of an alliance to offer decommissioning and dismantling services for nuclear power plants in Germany and Sweden.

Small amounts of Iodine-131, well below levels likely to have any effect on human health, were detected in outdoor air last month in a number of European countries. The source of the release has yet to be identified.

German power company EnBW has received approval from the Baden-Württemberg ministry of environment to decommission and dismantle unit 1 of the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant. The company expects dismantling work to begin next month and to be completed within 10-15 years.

Germany's Federal Constitutional Court today ruled that, although the country's 2011 phase-out legislation is essentially in compliance with the constitution, power utilities are entitled to "reasonable" compensation for the early shut down of their nuclear power reactors.

The German cabinet yesterday adopted a draft bill on financing the decommissioning of the country's nuclear power plants and management of its radioactive waste. The bill is based on the recommendation of an independent commission reviewing the financing of Germany's nuclear phase-out.

Urenco has today reported a net loss of €8.5 million ($9.6 million) as a result of adverse exchange rate movements and significant weakening of pound sterling in its financial results for the half year ending 30 June 2016. The net loss compares with a net gain in the same period of 2015 of €166 million.