Decommissioning permit granted for Brokdorf plant
The Schleswig-Holstein Ministry for Energy Transition, Climate Protection, Environment and Nature has issued the first decommissioning and dismantling permit to PreussenElektra for the Brokdorf nuclear power plant. Brokdorf is the last German nuclear power plant to receive this approval and begin dismantling.
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PreussenElektra - a subsidiary of EOn Group - applied for approval to decommission and dismantle the 1410 MWe pressurised water reactor in December 2017. The plant was shut down on 31 December 2021.
Phase 1 of the plant's decommissioning and dismantling has now been approved. This includes the decommissioning and dismantling of the plant components that are no longer required and subject to nuclear regulatory supervision, with the exception of the reactor pressure vessel and the biological shield.
Since Brokdorf's closure, the conditions for dismantling the plant have been created in close coordination with the authorities. These include the decontamination of the primary cooling circuit, systems and plant components that are no longer required have been taken out of service, and the workforce has been adjusted. A large proportion of the fuel elements still present in the plant have already been moved to the interim storage facility on site and replacement systems for the plant's energy supply have been installed.
"Over the past seven years, numerous colleagues have worked together to ensure that we can now hold the permit in our hands," said plant manager Tammo Kammrath. "It is important that we get started now and put our preliminary planning work into practice, after all, we still have a lot to do here at the site."
The next steps will be to create new logistics routes within the control area and set up a waste processing centre for the dismantled masses. In addition, systems and plant components that are no longer required will be prepared for dismantling.
A second dismantling permit is required to dismantle the reactor pressure vessel and the biological shield. This requires the removal of all fuel elements and special fuel rods, which are expected to be transported to the interim storage facility at the site in 2025. PreussenElektra submitted the application for the second dismantling permit on 30 August this year. This is currently being examined by independent experts.
"We are pleased that we now have the dismantling permit ... and can begin dismantling our plant," said PreussenElektra CEO Guido Knott. "We want to be finished by the mid-2030s in order to be able to complete the largest battery storage facility in the EU. This remains ambitious, but it is still feasible. Despite all of our ambitions, the highest safety standards also apply to dismantling in Brokdorf, as at all other PreussenElektra dismantling sites. We are now counting on the fact that, in close and proven cooperation with our authorities, we will also master the safe and speedy dismantling together."
In December last year, PreussenElektra, together with EOn group companies, announced plans for the construction at the Brokdorf site of the largest battery storage facility in the EU to date. The facility - to store electricity from renewable sources - is to be expanded in two stages to up to 800 MW of power and a storage capacity of up to 1600 MWh. Commissioning could begin as early as 2026.
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