Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant

Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant
Location of Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant in Germany
Official name	Kernkraftwerk Grafenrheinfeld
Country	Germany
Location	Grafenrheinfeld
Coordinates	49°59′2.71″N 10°11′4.81″E / 49.9840861°N 10.1846694°E / 49.9840861; 10.1846694Coordinates: 49°59′2.71″N 10°11′4.81″E / 49.9840861°N 10.1846694°E / 49.9840861; 10.1846694
Construction began	January 1, 1975
Commission date	December 21, 1981
Owner(s)	E.ON
Operator(s)	E.ON
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	PWR
Reactor supplier	Siemens
Cooling source	River Main
Cooling towers	2
Power generation
Units operational	1 x 1,345 MW
Make and model	Siemens
Nameplate capacity	1,345 MW
Average generation	9,425 GWh
Website Plant's site on E.ON's site

The Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant (German: Kernkraftwerk Grafenrheinfeld) is a now-offline electricity-generating facility near Grafenrheinfeld, south of Schweinfurt at the river Main. The plant operated from 1981 to June 28, 2015, when it was taken offline as part of the phase out policy for nuclear power in Germany.

Construction and history

Construction took place between 1974 and 1981 with construction costs of around 2.5 billion DM. The reactor, a German third-generation pressurized water reactor with an electrical net power output of 1345 megawatts, achieved first criticality on December 9, 1981.

E.ON in Hanover is the operator of the plant. The two 143m tall cooling towers are visible from far away. As with almost all other nuclear plants, temporary storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel are present on site. There is an information center at the power station.

Under the phase out policy for nuclear power in Germany, the plant was scheduled to shut down on 31 December 2015. Citing economical reasons, E.ON declared intent to shut down the plant earlier, originally at end of May 2015.^[1][2]

Plant taken offline

The Grafenrheinfeld plant was taken offline on June 28, 2015 as part of Germany's ongoing policy to shut all nuclear power plants down in the country by 2022.^[3][4]

In the media

In the anti-nuclear teen novel Die Wolke (1987), the power plant undergoes a meltdown.

References

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