Germany’s Gundremmingen B reactor in Bavaria was shut down as 2017 came to a close as part of the country's Engergiewende or energy transition policy.
The 1284MWe boiling water reactor (BWR) began operation in 1984. Following the Fukushima Daiichi accident, Germany ordered eight reactors to be retired immediately, with the rest to be phased out over time.
Gundremmingen B generated a total of 330TWh of electricity over its lifetime. In a statement, operator Kernkraftwerk Gundremmingen (KGG) said this is more than half of Germany's annual electricity consumption. It noted that over its lifetime, Gundremmingen B operated with a capacity factor of around 90%. The unit is 75% owned by RWE and 25% by E.ON. Regulatory approval to decommission the unit is still pending, but KGG it will now start to transfer the used fuel from the storage pool at Gundremmingen B into Castor containers to be taken to the onsite interim storage facility.
Germany now has seven power reactors in operation with a combined generating capacity of 9444MWe. The next scheduled closure of a German reactor is EnBW's 1392MWe Phillipsburg 2 pressurised water reactor in 2019. Gundremmingen Reactor C will be retired in 2021.
Photo: Gundremmingen nuclear plant in Germany (Credit: KGG)
