RWE Files Suit against Germany over Biblis Reactor Closure

RWE said on Monday it will seek damages from Germany to compensate for losses caused by a government-imposed moratorium on nuclear power stations in 2011 in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

The German utility was forced to close its Biblis nuclear power station, causing more than 200 million euros ($264 million) in lost income, a decision later declared illegal.

RWE said in a statement that it had filed a lawsuit with the Essen regional court to claim against the Federal Republic of Germany and Hesse state, represented by the federal environment ministry and the Hesse state environment ministry respectively.

"By filing the suit, RWE Power safeguards the company's asset interests and those of its shareholders," RWE said.

"The company will not comment on further details outside the court proceedings," it added.

A federal court has confirmed that the decision by Hesse, where the 2,525-megawatt plant is located, to order it shut as a precaution following the disaster at Japan's Fukushima reactor in March 2011, was illegal.

Biblis has remained idled since 2011, largely as a result of Germany's wider decision to phase out nuclear power faster than scheduled in a national exit plan up to 2022, as nuclear safety concerns triggered the need for a political response.

RWE is the only company to have taken legal steps over the so-called three-month moratorium imposed on operators, with its claim estimated at more than 200 million euros.

The temporary closure of the seven oldest nuclear plants preceded the wider decision by the German government, against which RWE and peers have also taken separate steps involving the Federal Constitutional Court.

Separately, an E.ON spokesman said his company was still reviewing the possibility of suing for damages arising from the three-month stoppage in 2011 of its Unterweser and Isar 1 nuclear reactors in the states of Lower Saxony and Bavaria.

The Hesse environment ministry said in a statement it would align its response to RWE's move with the federal government.

It reiterated earlier statements that it had acted under instruction by Berlin and that in its view the federal government would be responsible for paying any compensation.

But RWE may have forfeited its right to damages anyway because it had not filed an objection against the 2011 order, the ministry also said.

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(Reporting by Vera Eckert and Tom Kaeckenhoff; Editing by Dale Hudson)