Vattenfall has received the second and final permit for dismantling Germany’s Brunsbüttel NPP from the state of Schleswig-Holstein. The 771 MWe boiling water reactor, which began operation in 1976, was shut down in 2007 after several breakdowns. Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, the power plant was permanently closed for decommissioning as part of Germany’s nuclear phase-out policy.
Schleswig-Holstein Environment Minister Tobias Goldschmidt, handing over the permit, noted: “This second dismantling permit for the Brunsbüttel NPP is a milestone. Schleswig-Holstein has now granted all nuclear decommissioning and dismantling permits for the Krümmel and Brunsbüttel nuclear plants. Both are within the competence of Vattenfall, to whom I would like to express my sincere thanks for their excellent cooperation. We are moving very quickly and today we are taking another major step towards phasing out nuclear power in Schleswig-Holstein.”
Goldschmidt said NPP decommissioning is very complex and different for every plant. “This makes radiation protection all the more of a top priority throughout the entire dismantling operation. Also, in order to meet the concerns of the local people, we, as nuclear regulatory oversight, closely monitor all dismantling steps.”
Dr Ingo Neuhaus, Head of Nuclear Decommissioning at Vattenfall in Germany, said the permit is a step towards returning the NPP site to greenfield status. “To ensure that this can continue to be done quickly … we will continue to focus on professionalism and openness in our dealings with the relevant authorities and the stakeholders involved on the ground.”
Many sub-steps, such as the decommissioning of systems, require the approval of the nuclear regulatory authority in order to ensure compliance with requirements for radiation minimisation. For the approval procedure, the state charged Vattenfall a fee of €175 000 ($205,755).
The Brunsbüttel plant has been undergoing decommissioning since 2019. Vattenfall received the first dismantling permit in December 2018 signalling a transition from its post-operational phase to decommissioning. In the post-operation phase, the fuel assemblies are removed, plant components are recorded, dismantling plans are drawn up and suitable procedures for decontamination and dismantling are defined.
With the removal of the final fuel element in June 2017 and the final special fuel rods in February 2018, around 99% of the radioactive inventory has left the plant. Of the remaining one per cent of the radioactive inventory, more than 90% was in the reactor pressure vessel and its internals, which were subsequently dismantled.
Under the first permit, the conventional parts of the NPP were dismantled and the resulting wastes were sent for storage or recycling. The second permit enables dismantle of the reactor pressure vessel, the biological shield and parts of the containment vessel. It also authorises the appropriate handling of radioactive substances.
Vattenfall anticipates that the further dismantling of the Brunsbüttel plant will take another 10 years. The site will still house the interim storage facility for nuclear fuel and the new storage facility for low and intermediate-level radioactive waste.
In September 2024, the newly constructed storage facility for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste at the Brunsbüttel site was handed over to the federally owned Gesellschaft für Zwischenlagerung, which operates the storage facilities for radioactive waste in Germany. The storage facility was designed to accommodate all low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste from the decommissioning operation of the Brunsbüttel plant, as well as waste from the operating period of the Krümmel NPP.
