The

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 by ...

station Mülheim-Kärlich lies on the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

, about 10 km northwest from

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

, close to the town Mülheim-Kärlich in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The operating company was Société Luxembourgeoise de Centrales Nucléaires, a daughter company of RWE. It was the only nuclear power plant in the

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

after it was finished in 1986, however, due to problems with the building permit it only operated for 3 years and was taken offline in 1988. Subsequent attempts to bring the plant online continued until 1998 when the supreme court ruled for it to never be restarted.

History

The plant was built from 1975 to 1986 and potential problems were apparent before construction was completed. There were complaints from municipalities and delays from various suppliers. It was revealed that the construction site lay in an earthquake-prone basin, the Neuwieder Becken. Due to earthquake concerns, the location was moved 70 meters from where it had been originally planned. After just three years of operation it had to be taken out of operation indefinitely, with resumption of operations contingent on a judicial decision. New requirements for a building permit were drafted and the licensing process essentially had to start over completely in order for the plant to come back online. The government of Rhineland Palatinate granted the plant a building permit, but it was rescinded by the higher administrative court in Koblenz in 1991 and 1995. The decision was confirmed by the federal administrative court in Berlin in 1998 in the final legal battle. The plant began the decommissioning process in 2001 and management was transferred from RWE. The removal of the fuel happened one year later. The removal of the plant and the cooling tower itself were postponed multiple times; both were still standing in 2018. Demolition of the cooling tower happened on August 9, 2019, at 15.38 local time.

Technical data

* Owner: Société Luxembourgeoise de Centrales Nucléaires (RWE subsidiary) * Operator:

RWE Power AG RWE AG is a German multinational energy company headquartered in Essen. It generates and trades electricity in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the United States. In July 2020, RWE completed a far-reaching asset swap deal with E.ON first a ...

* Building firm: ABB * Type: Pressurized water reactor * Rated output: 1,308 MWe * First current production: 14. March 1986 * Storage capacity: 362 fuel elements * Construction costs: 7 billion DM (3.58 billion euro) * Height of the cooling tower: 162 m * Height of the chimney: 161.5 m

Gallery

Image:Mülheim-Kärlich.jpg, The Mülheim-Kärlich town and the power station Image:Kernkraftwerk_Mülheim_Kärlich_Kühlturm.jpg, The power station seen from the

Festung Ehrenbreitstein Ehrenbreitstein Fortress (, ) is a fortress in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the east bank of the Rhine where it is joined by the Moselle, overlooking the town of Koblenz. Occupying the position of an earlier fortress destroyed by ...

castle Image:KKW-Baustelle Mülheim-Kärlich 1976-04-05 (3) u. Kapelle - Foto Sp.jpg, Chapel at the construction site 1976 Image:KKW-Baustelle Mülheim-Kärlich 1976-04-05 b (Sp).jpg, Construction as of 5 April 1976

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulheim-Karlich Nuclear Power Plant Former nuclear power stations in Germany Economy of Rhineland-Palatinate RWE