German nuclear power plant Grohnde receives permit to dismantle reactor

The dismantling of the German nuclear power plant Grohnde can move into its next phase. The plant has received the second and final permit from the Lower Saxony ministry for further dismantling, including the dismantling of the nuclear reactor itself. The Grohnde unit’s 1430 MW pressurised water reactor generated electricity from 1984 to 2021. Technicians began dismantling work in 2024, and the entire process is expected to take 15 years. 

The operator of the German nuclear power plant Grohnde, PreussenElektra, announced that it had received the second and final permit to dismantle the facility from the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate Protection. The single-unit plant, with a pressurised water reactor, stopped generating electricity in 2021. During its operating life, it produced just under 400 TWh of electricity.

“I would like to thank everyone involved for their excellent work on the dismantling. Decommissioning nuclear facilities must be safe, transparent and subject to strict regulatory oversight. Our shared goal is a swift, competent and responsible dismantling process,” said Environment Minister Christian Meyer.

PreussenElektra received the first permit to dismantle the 1430 MW unit in December 2023, and its technicians began the process in January 2024. In April this year, the company announced that it had moved fuel assemblies from the plant’s interim storage facility into spent fuel containers. The next phase is the technically challenging dismantling of the reactor vessel’s internals. This work will continue until mid-2028.

 “The dismantling is proceeding according to plan. With the second permit, we can continue without any problems in line with our schedule,” said Jörg Bornemann, director of the Grohnde nuclear power plant.

Dismantling 8 power plants by 2040

PreussenElektra is dismantling a total of 8 of its nuclear power plants in Germany (Brokdorf, Grafenrheinfeld, Grohnde, Isar, Stade, Unterweser and Würgassen). The last operating unit, Isar 2, stopped generating electricity on 15 April 2023. The company plans to dismantle all its nuclear units by 2040.

“With the second permit, we now have all the legal requirements in place to dismantle the Grohnde plant as planned. Our intention is to carry out the dismantling safely, efficiently and swiftly. The goal is to complete the dismantling of the nuclear power plants by the mid-2030s and put the sites to use for future projects as soon as possible,” emphasised Guido Knott, chairman of the management board of PreussenElektra.