Stade
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...
plant (german: Kernkraftwerk Stade, KKS) operated from 1972 to 2003 in Bassenfleth close to the
Schwinge river mouth into the
Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...
river. It was the first nuclear plant shut down after Germany's
nuclear phase out legislation and is currently being decommissioned (Phase 2: Deconstruction of larger modules in the containment building).
The station is on the left bank of the Elbe in Stadersand, a locality of
Stade, to the west of
Hamburg
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in
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
beside
Schilling Power Station, which has also been shut down. It was a
light water reactor
The light-water reactor (LWR) is a type of thermal-neutron reactor that uses normal water, as opposed to heavy water, as both its coolant and neutron moderator; furthermore a solid form of fissile elements is used as fuel. Thermal-neutron react ...
.
History
The power plant was built by
Siemens and went online on May 19, 1972 shortly after having reached the first
criticality on January 8, 1972.
[Power Reactor Information System](_blank)
der IAEA
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 195 ...
„Germany, Federal Republic of: Nuclear Power Reactors“
(englisch)
Between March, 1972 and November, 2003 the plant supplied electrical power of 662 MW (internal) / 630 MW (external), as well as 1,892 MW
thermal power. Until September 7, 2005, the power plant ran in "post-operational" mode, and has been in "residual" mode since then.
In 31 years of operation, 157
fuel elements were consumed, including, from December 15, 1988 onwards, fuel elements containing 4%
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
. Starting in 1984, the nearby
saltern
A saltern is an area or installation for making salt. Salterns include modern salt-making works (saltworks), as well as hypersaline waters that usually contain high concentrations of halophilic microorganisms, primarily haloarchaea but also othe ...
was supplied with
process steam. This was the first time a nuclear power station had supplied thermal energy. On Friday, November 14, 2003, at 8:32 a.m. the Stade nuclear power plant was shut down. E.ON, the company operating the plant at the time, cited economic reasons.
Decommissioning
The power plant was decommissioned in five phases, which were expected to be completed by 2015.
* Phase 1: Decommissioning of machinery and parts not required for "residual" operation. Preparation of further steps and infrastructure.
* Phase 2: Decommissioning of large components in the containment building
* Phase 3: Decommissioning of the pressure containment building and the biological shield
* Phase 4: Decommissioning of remaining contaminated parts. Verification of absence of contamination. End of government nuclear supervision.
* Phase 5: Demolition of conventional structures.
On April 27, 2005 the last fuel cells were removed from the plant.
The Department of the Environment of Lower Saxony authorized the storage of weak nuclear waste until 2046.
Consequences
After shutdown of the Stade nuclear power plant, the operation of the nearby saltern has been shut down also.
Meanwhile it is planned to construct a
black coal power plant with almost the same power as the KKS. This requires extension of the harbour of
Stade-Bützfleth with a coal terminal for 1.7 million t black coal.
[Hamburger Abendblatt (German) 12.12.2005, "Kohlekraftwerk nach Stade?", http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2005/12/12/512830.html]
See also
*
Anti-nuclear movement 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 nucl ...
*
Germany's nuclear phase out legislation
References
External links
Information brochure from Operator E.ON
Image:Nordwestansicht AKW Stade.jpg, The Stade NPP
Image:Nordwestansicht mit Infrastruktur AKW Stade.jpg,
Image:Einfahrt AKW Stade.jpg,
Image:Betreten Verboten AKW Stade.jpg,
Image:Stacheldraht AKW Stade.jpg,
Image:Aerial_photograph_8407_DxO.jpg
{{Authority control
NuclearPowerPlant
Stade NuclearPowerPlant
Former nuclear power stations in Germany
Vattenfall nuclear power stations
Economy of Lower Saxony