GERMAN COURT CALLS FOR COLLIDER SAFETY CONFERENCE
COLOGNE, February 22 — As the world’s largest atom smasher prepares to
restart after a two-month break, a German court has called for the
German Government to convene a conference on the collider’s potential
risks.
After an intensive three-hour court hearing in Cologne, the Presiding
Judge, Hans-Martin Niemeier, declared, “The Court has expressed its
opinion that it should be possible to discuss the various safety aspects
that have been the subject of the two safety reports from 2003 and 2008,
within the framework of a safety conference.”
The hearing featured a debate between Germany’s leading critic of the
LHC, Prof. Otto E. Rössler, and two scientists representing CERN, Dr.
Voss and Dr. Ringwald. CERN contended that it had proven that the
Geneva-based Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is completely safe. Critics of
the collider, on the other hand, pointed to flaws and contradictions in
CERN’s safety arguments for the possible production of black holes and
exotic new forms of matter.
The Cologne Court’s pronouncement is a remarkable turn of events for the
international campaign to stop the LHC. An earlier case filed in Hawaii
had been dismissed by American courts on a legal technicality, and a
previous request for an injunction against the LHC was turned down last
year by Germany’s highest court. The Cologne Court’s statement is the
first time a court has called for specific measures to be taken to
investigate the collider’s safety.
The Court did not, however, agree to the plaintiff’s request to restrict
the operation of the LHC. The Court argued that the plaintiff, Gabriele
Schröter, a German citizen residing in Switzerland, had presented
dangers which were still only theoretical.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Olaf Möhring, responded that, “This reasoning
is not convincing at all since, in this very case, the safety reports
themselves also rely on mere theories.”
Möhring further pointed out that CERN’s main argument comparing the
LHC’s experimental conditions with naturally occurring cosmic ray
collisions was deeply flawed. He noted that, “Differences between the
two are so obvious that even a layman could detect them,” and called for
the Court to enforce the “precautionary principle”. Möhring stated
that they are planning on appealing the Court’s legal ruling.
Nevertheless, the plaintiffs were encouraged by the Court’s
recommendations. Möhring said that, “The Court has given a strong new
signal that cannot be ignored by the German Government or even CERN.”
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For more information, contact:
Olaf Möhring
Gilliand & Collegen Rechtsanwälte
Heinz-Nixdorf-Straße 20
D-41179 Mönchengladbach, Germany
Tel: +49 2161 57329–00
Fax: +49 2161 57329–01
E-mail: [email protected]
If the world survives it will because we managed to have enough time to learned to honor caution the way we now honor ecology. When the US was founded it honored taming the wilderness, not preserving it. Even if we luck out a second time, Otto Rossler, your help in teaching the world caution is greatly needed.
The first time we lucked out was when soldiers at the first atom bomb project were taking bets whether it would destroy the earth or not. A more lengthy version of this letter is at your earlier post.
Richard Kane
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