Licensing of nuclear power plants

De Witt, who as an advocate represents the interests of citizen's initiatives in lawsuits concerning nuclear power plants, contests an independent scope of discretion of the administration and criticizes the reduction of the control density of courts which can be noticed recently. The shift of emphasis from the courts to the administration would not only change the balance within the constitutional separation of powers but could also lead to a weakening of the protection of fundamental rights. When assessing the technical risks he wants above all to take into account the possible extent of the damage. De Witt also shows that - beyond the discretion of refusal according to section 7 of the Atomic Energy Act and the exertion of influence of the executive on public utilities - it could be possible to develop means - not used until now - to control the social impacts of nuclear energy. (orig./HSCH)