Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant

Last updated
Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant
Nuclear Power Plant Obrigheim.jpg
Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant
Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant
Official nameKernkraftwerk Obrigheim
CountryGermany
Location Obrigheim, Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis
Coordinates 49°21′52″N9°04′35″E / 49.36444°N 9.07639°E / 49.36444; 9.07639 Coordinates: 49°21′52″N9°04′35″E / 49.36444°N 9.07639°E / 49.36444; 9.07639
StatusDecommissioning
Construction began1965
Commission date March 31, 1969
Decommission dateMay 11, 2005
Owner(s) EnBW
Operator(s)
    Nuclear power station
    Reactor type PWR
    Reactor supplier Siemens-Schuckert
    Thermal capacity1050 [1]
    Power generation
    Units decommissioned1 × 357 MW
    Nameplate capacity 340 MW
    Capacity factor 82.9%
    Annual net output 2593 GW·h
    External links
    Website Site c/o EnBW
    Commons Related media on Commons

    Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant (KWO) is a nuclear power plant currently in the decommissioning phase. The plant is located in Obrigheim, Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, on the banks of the Neckar and owned by EnBW. It operated a pressurized water reactor unit from 1969 to 2005. The defuelling process was completed in 2007, with spent fuel rods awaiting transport to an interim storage facility. In March 2017, EnBW tested the shipment of numerous castors by a barge on the Neckar to Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Plant.

    Contents

    History 1959-2005

    On May 5, 1955, the Federal Republic of Germany, with the French occupation force, started to work in earnest towards peaceful use of nuclear energy. The district of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg were particularly interested in this development. In 1957 the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kernkraft Stuttgart (AKS) group was created in Baden-Württemberg. The minister-president and minister of the economics of Baden-Württemberg at the time, Hermann Veit took over the project of establishing a nuclear power plant, and looked towards the Calder Hall Gas cooled reactor in England for a design.[ citation needed ]

    In the spring of 1959, AKS chose an unusual reactor design: the organically moderated and cooled reactor (OMR). When the much smaller AEC demonstration facility at Piqua, Ohio suffered severe problems, they switched to a light water reactor in 1962. [2]

    The reactor was built with a US license and public funding, [3] and went online in 1969. [4]

    During the 2003 European heat wave, Obrigheim was shut down due to high water temperature in the river. [5]

    It was permanently shut down in 2005, [4] having produced 90 billion kWh. [6]

    Decommissioning, 2005-present

    Since 2005 the EnBW owned nuclear power in Obrigheim has been in the process of decommissioning; the spent fuel rods have been in wet storage since 2007. The salient barrier is a missing final repository for the 342 highly radioactive fuel rods. Obrigheim had an interim storage facility between 1998 and 2007. [7] For EnBW not to have to build one, the fuel rods needed to be shipped to the Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Plant, which is about 40 kilometers away and still had space in its temporary storage. EnBW had considered transport by road, by rail and by barge. The former two options did not apply absent a nearby train connection, and road transport is complicated by single-lane roads through a densely populated area, where large-scale barriers would have to be made. [4] [8]

    Since both nuclear plants were built on the banks of the Neckar, barge transport appeared to be the preferred way in spite of the 23 bridges and six locks it must pass. Even the green environment ministry in Baden-Württemberg saw the waterway as the best solution, but the Bundesministerium für Umwelt had critics. For the first time in Germany´s history, highly radioactive waste was transported on a river. [4]

    Protests against the castor transports on the river had been arising. About 650 people followed a call for the "Neckar castorfrei" campaign to protest and march as "a sign before the anniversary of the Fukushima disaster of March 11, 2011". [4]

    The remaining waste water was evaporated. [9]

    Hardware features

    The Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant on the left KWO+Biomassekraftwerk.jpg
    The Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant on the left
    View of the nuclear power plant Obrigheim-kernkraftwerk.jpg
    View of the nuclear power plant
    The nuclear power plant in 1979 Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F056652-0021, Kernkraftwerk Obrigheim (KWO).jpg
    The nuclear power plant in 1979

    The electric power was transported by a single power line to Hüffenhardt substation. The power line carried four circuits, two for 220 kV and two for 110 kV. The circuits for 110  kV were mounted on the lowest of the three crossbars of the pylons, and the circuits for 220 kV on the middle and the upper crossbar of the pylons.[ jargon ]

    An unusual feature of the power line between the pylons is that insulators are mounted between the conductors to prevent short circuits by too close a conductor clearance with strong winds.[ according to whom? ]

    To monitor radioactivity there were two meteorological towers, built as lattice steel masts. One of them was built in 1977/78 between the village of Asbach and Kirstätter Hof at 49 20 30 N and 9 02 47 E. In 2001, the 169 metres tall mast was demolished by explosives. A free-standing mobile phone transmission tower made of prefabricated concrete was built on its site. The other meteorological tower erected in 1962 is 99 metres tall, located close to the power plant, and still in use.[ citation needed ]

    See also

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Neckar</span> Right tributary of Rhine river in Germany

    The Neckar is a 362-kilometre-long (225 mi) river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwenningen in the Schwenninger Moos conservation area at a height of 706 m (2,316 ft) above sea level, it passes through Rottweil, Rottenburg am Neckar, Kilchberg, Tübingen, Wernau, Nürtingen, Plochingen, Esslingen, Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg, Marbach, Heilbronn and Heidelberg, before discharging on average 145 m3/s (5,100 cu ft/s) of water into the Rhine at Mannheim, at 95 m (312 ft) above sea level, making the Neckar its 4th largest tributary, and the 10th largest river in Germany. Since 1968, the Neckar has been navigable for cargo ships via 27 locks for about 200 kilometres (120 mi) upstream from Mannheim to the river port of Plochingen, at the confluence with the Fils.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Dry cask storage</span> Radioactive waste storage method

    Dry cask storage is a method of storing high-level radioactive waste, such as spent nuclear fuel that has already been cooled in the spent fuel pool for at least one year and often as much as ten years. Casks are typically steel cylinders that are either welded or bolted closed. The fuel rods inside are surrounded by inert gas. Ideally, the steel cylinder provides leak-tight containment of the spent fuel. Each cylinder is surrounded by additional steel, concrete, or other material to provide radiation shielding to workers and members of the public.

    The Army Nuclear Power Program (ANPP) was a program of the United States Army to develop small pressurized water and boiling water nuclear power reactors to generate electrical and space-heating energy primarily at remote, relatively inaccessible sites. The ANPP had several accomplishments, but ultimately it was considered to be "a solution in search of a problem." The U.S. Army Engineer Reactors Group managed this program and it was headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The program began in 1954 and had effectively terminated by about 1977, with the last class of NPP operators graduating in 1977. Work continued for some time thereafter either for decommissioning of the plants or placing them into SAFSTOR. The current development of small modular reactors has led to a renewed interest in military applications.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Neckarwestheim</span> Municipality in Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Neckarwestheim is a municipality with 3524 inhabitants in the Heilbronn district, Baden-Württemberg, in south-west Germany. It is located on the Neckar river and is well known as the location of a nuclear power station, the Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Plant.

    EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, or simply EnBW, is a publicly-traded energy company headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany. As its name indicates, EnBW is based in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">THTR-300</span> Thorium nuclear reactor in Germany

    The THTR-300 was a thorium cycle high-temperature nuclear reactor rated at 300 MW electric (THTR-300) in Hamm-Uentrop, Germany. It started operating in 1983, synchronized with the grid in 1985, operated at full power in February 1987 and was shut down September 1, 1989. The THTR-300 served as a prototype high-temperature reactor (HTR) to use the TRISO pebble fuel produced by the AVR, an experimental pebble bed operated by VEW. The THTR-300 cost €2.05 billion and was predicted to cost an additional €425 million through December 2009 in decommissioning and other associated costs. The German state of North Rhine Westphalia, Federal Republic of Germany, and Hochtemperatur-Kernkraftwerk GmbH (HKG) financed the THTR-300’s construction.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">BN-350 reactor</span> Russian fast breeder reactor, operated from 1973 to 1993

    The BN-350 is a sodium-cooled, fast reactor located at the Mangyshlak Nuclear Power Plant, located in Aktau, Kazakhstan, on the shore of the Caspian Sea.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station</span> Decommissioned nuclear power plant in Massachusetts

    Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station was a nuclear power plant in Rowe, Massachusetts, located on the Deerfield River in the town of Rowe in western Massachusetts. Its 180 MWe pressurized water reactor operated from 1961 to 1991. It produced electricity for New England consumers. The site is referred to as "Yankee-Rowe" or simply "Rowe", to avoid confusion with Vermont Yankee, another nuclear power station located in nearby Vernon, Vermont. The decommissioning of the site was completed in 2007.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear decommissioning</span> Process of dismantling a nuclear facility

    Nuclear decommissioning is the process leading to the irreversible complete or partial closure of a nuclear facility, usually a nuclear reactor, with the ultimate aim at termination of the operating licence. The process usually runs according to a decommissioning plan, including the whole or partial dismantling and decontamination of the facility, ideally resulting in restoration of the environment up to greenfield status. The decommissioning plan is fulfilled when the approved end state of the facility has been reached.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Obrigheim</span> Municipality in Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Obrigheim is a town in the district of Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear power in Germany</span> Overview of nuclear power in Germany

    Nuclear power was used in Germany from the 1960s until being phased out on April 15, 2023.

    KS 150 is a Gas Cooled Reactor using Heavy Water as a moderator (GCHWR) nuclear reactor design. A single example, A-1, was constructed at the Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant in Jaslovské Bohunice, Czechoslovakia. The power plant suffered a series of accidents, the worst being an accident on February 22, 1977, rated INES-4. Since 1979 the plant has been undergoing decommissioning.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Plant</span> Nuclear power plant in Neckarwestheim, Germany

    Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Station is a nuclear power plant in Neckarwestheim, Germany, sometimes abbreviated GKN, operated by EnBW Kernkraft GmbH, a subsidiary of EnBW.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Gösgen Nuclear Power Plant</span> Nuclear power plant in Switzerland

    The Gösgen Nuclear Power Plant is located in the Däniken municipality on a loop of the Aar river. It is operated by the ad hoc society Kernkraftwerk Gösgen-Däniken AG.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Stade Nuclear Power Plant</span>

    Stade Nuclear power plant operated from 1972 to 2003 in Bassenfleth close to the Schwinge river mouth into the Elbe river. It was the first nuclear plant shut down after Germany's nuclear phase out legislation and is currently being decommissioned.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Greifswald Nuclear Power Plant</span> Decommissioned nuclear power plant located in Lubmin, Germany

    Greifswald nuclear power station, also known as Lubmin nuclear power station, was the largest nuclear power station in East Germany before closure shortly after the German reunification. The plants were of the VVER-440/V-230 type, which was the second generation of Soviet-designed plants. The plant is in Lubmin near Greifswald, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-nuclear movement in Germany</span> Movement opposing nuclear power in Germany

    The anti-nuclear movement in Germany has a long history dating back to the early 1970s when large demonstrations prevented the construction of a nuclear plant at Wyhl. The Wyhl protests were an example of a local community challenging the nuclear industry through a strategy of direct action and civil disobedience. Police were accused of using unnecessarily violent means. Anti-nuclear success at Wyhl inspired nuclear opposition throughout Germany, in other parts of Europe, and in North America. A few years later protests raised against the NATO Double-Track Decision in Germany and were followed by the foundation of the Green party.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant</span> Decommissioned nuclear power plant in California

    The Humboldt Bay Power Plant, Unit 3 was a 63 MWe nuclear boiling water reactor, owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company that operated from August 1963 to July 1976 just south of Eureka, California.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Großwelzheim Nuclear Power Plant</span> Nuclear power plant in Germany

    Großwelzheim Nuclear Power Plant,, was an experimental nuclear power plant consisting of one 25 MW reactor in Großwelzheim, a district of Karlstein am Main.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Niederaichbach Nuclear Power Plant</span>

    Niederaichbach Nuclear Power Plant was a German nuclear plant in Niederaichbach, Bavaria. The plant consisted of one heavy water gas cooled (HWGC) reactor with a gross capacity of 106 MWe. Safety and maintenance issues caused the reactor to be decommissioned after only a year and a half in operation. It was the first nuclear plant in Europe to be completely decommissioned, with the final work being completed in autumn 1995.

    References

    1. "Obrigheim nuclear power plant | Nuclear facilities". www.nuklearesicherheit.de. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020.
    2. Shirvan & Forrest 2016, p. Table 1.
    3. "D.7.7: Case Study Report Nuclear" (PDF). Technische Universität Berlin. February 2019. p. 106. The last demonstration reactor was Obrigheim (340 MWe, 1,050 MWth) con-structed by Siemens (KWU) under US license, Obrigheim was also the last reactor to receive government subsidies, all subsequent orders were wholly utility financed.
    4. 1 2 3 4 5 Angela Hennersdorf (10 March 2017). "Umweltschützer laufen Sturm gegen Atommülltransporte". Wirtschaftswoche.
    5. "Studie Wärmelast Rhein - BUND RLP" (PDF). 19 May 2009. Zeitweise mußte das AKW (Zwangs-) abgeschaltet werden. Die Routinemäßige Jahresprüfung wurde um zehn Tage vorgezogen.
    6. "Kernkraftwerk Obrigheim (KWO) | EnBW". Kernkraftwerk Obrigheim (KWO) (in German). Archived from the original on 9 August 2020.
    7. "State and Development of Nuclear Energy Utilization in the Federal Republic of Germany 2015" (PDF). Department of Nuclear Safety. July 2016. p. 23+38.
    8. Topf, C. (2007). "Full system decontamination at the Obrigheim nuclear power plant prior to decommissioning". Atw. Internationale Zeitschrift für Kernenergie. 52 (11): 727–730. ISSN   1431-5254.
    9. "Obrigheim nuclear power plant – engineering and erection of an electric evaporation system - Kraftanlagen". www.kraftanlagen.com. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020.

    Bibliography