Stade Nuclear Power Plant

Infobox NPP
Picture = S%C3%BCdostansicht_AKW_Stade_1.jpg
Pic_des =
Country = Germany
EIGENTÜMER = 66,7 % E.ON
33,3 % Vattenfall
Utility = E.ON
Built = 1967
Start = May 19, 1972
End = November 14, 2003
Reactor =
Reactor_MW =
S_Reactor = 1
S_Reactor_MW = 672
B_Reactor =
B_Reactor_MW =
E_Reactor =
E_Reactor_MW =
El_Prod = 4,481
for_year = 2003
El_Prod_avg = 4,611
Net_Prod = 145,896
WEBSITE = [http://www.eon-kernkraft.com/frameset_german/nuclear-power-plant/nuclear-power-plant_locations/energy_nuclearpower_kkstade.jsp Site c/o E.ON]
as_of = October 6, 2006The Nuclear power station Stade (German: Kernkraftwerk Stade, KKS) 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 undergoing the decommissioning process (Phase 2:Deconstruction of larger modules in the containment building [Niedersächsisches Umweltministerium: http://www.umwelt.niedersachsen.de/master/C739798_N4798384_L20_D0_I598.html] ).

The station is located at the left bank of the Elbe next to the city Stade, to the west of Hamburg in Lower Saxony beside another shut down power station Schilling. The KKS was based upon a light water reactor.

History

The power plant was built by the Siemens company and started operation on May, 19th, 1972 shortly after having reached the first criticality on January, 8th, 1972. [http://www.iaea.org/programmes/a2/ Power Reactor Information System] der IAEA: [http://www.iaea.org/cgi-bin/db.page.pl/pris.powrea.htm?country=DE&sort=&sortlong=Alphabetic „Germany, Federal Republic of: Nuclear Power Reactors“] (englisch)] Between March, 1972 and November, 2003 the KKS supplied electrical power of 662MW (internal) resp. 630MW(external), as well as 1892MW thermical power. Until September, 7th, 2005, the power plant ran in "post-operational" mode, since then it is in "residual" mode.

During the 31 years of operation, 157 fuel elements have been consumed, since December, 15th, 1988 also fuel elements containing 4% uranium. Since 1984, the nearby saline has been supplied with process steam. This was the first supply of thermical energy by a nuclear power station. On Friday, November 14, 2003, at 8:32 a.m. the Stade nuclear power plant has been shut down. The operating company E.ON officially assigned economical reasons, however, Germany's nuclear phase out act of 2000 surely provided also a political motivation.

Deconstruction

The power plant deconstruction is divided into 5 phases, which shall be completed until 2015.

* Phase 1: Deconstruction of machinery and parts, which are not required for "residual" operation. Preparation of further steps and infrastructure.
* Phase 2: Deconstruction of large components in the containment building
* Phase 3: Deconstruction of the pressure containment building and the biological shield
* Phase 4: Deconstruction of the remaining contaminated parts. Proof of absence of contamination. Release of remaining structures out of governmental nuclear supervision.
* Phase 5: Destruction of conventional structures.

On April, 27th 2005 the last fuel cells have been moved away from the KKS.Nevertheless, the department of the environment of lower saxony authorized storage of weak nuclear waste until 2046. [ [http://www.umwelt.niedersachsen.de/master/C739798_N4798384_L20_D0_I598.html Sachstandsinformation zum Kernkraftwerk Stade ] ] .

Consequences

After shutdown of the Stade nuclear power plant, the operation of the nearby saline has been shut down also [Die Welt(German), 25.06.2003: http://www.welt.de/print-welt/article242377/Akzo-Nobel-Konzern_schliesst_Saline_Stade_zum_Monatsende.html] . Only a few years after (2006) the nearby aluminium factory was closed because of too expensive electrical energy [Hamburger Abendblatt (German) 23.03.2007, online-edition: http://www2.abendblatt.de/daten/2007/03/23/711634.html] . Also, lots of small supplying companies got into trouble.

Meanwhile it is planned to construct a black coal power plant with almost the same power as the KKS [Stader Tageblatt (German): 28.09.2007 "BUND: Rückschlag für Klimaschutz" http://www.tageblatt.de/main.cfm?DID=1006431] . 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]

ee also

*Anti-nuclear movement in Germany
*Germany's nuclear phase out legislation

References

External links

* [http://www.eon-kernkraft.com/Ressources/downloads/Info_Standort_RZS_eng.pdf Information brochure from Operator E.ON]
* [http://www.umwelt.niedersachsen.de/master/C739798_N4798384_L20_D0_I598.html Official state of deconstruction (German)]