Mülheim-Kärlich Nuclear Power Plant
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| Mülheim-Kärlich Nuclear Power Plant | |
 The Mülheim-Kärlich NPP
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| Data | |
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| Country | Germany |
| Operator | RWE |
| Built | 1973 |
| Start of commercial operation | August 1, 1987 |
| Ceased operation | September 9, 1988 |
| Reactors | |
| Reactors shut down | 1 (1302 MW) |
| Power | |
| Capacity | MW |
| Net generation | 10,291 GWh |
| Other details | |
| Website Site c/o RWE |
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As of October 6, 2006
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The nuclear power station Mülheim Kärlich lies on the Rhine river, about 10 km northwest from Koblenz, close to the city Mülheim Kärlich. The operating company was Société Luxembourgeoise de Centrales Nucléaires, a daughter company of RWE. It was the only nuclear power plant in the Rhineland-Palatinate after it was finished in 1986, however, due to problems with the building permit it only operated for 3 years and was taken offline in 1988. Subsequent attempts to bring the plant online continued until 1998 when the supreme court ruled for it to never be restarted.
[edit] History
The plant was built from 1975 to 1986 and potential problems were apparent before the finish of construction. There were complaints from the municipalities and delays from various suppliers. It was revealed that the construction site lied in an earthquake prone basin, the Neuwieder Becken. Due to earthquake concerns, the location was actually moved 70 meters from where it was originally planned.
After just 3 years of operation it had to be taken out of operation indefinitely with restart pending a judicial decision. New requirements for a building permit were drafted and the licensing process would essentially have to start over completely in order for the plant to come back online. The Rhineland-Palatinian state government actually granted the plant a building permit, but it was waved by the higher administrative court in Koblenz in 1991 and 1995. The decision was confirmed by the federal administrative court in Berlin in 1998 in the final legal battle.
The plant began the decommissioning process in 2001 and management was transferred from RWE. The removal of the fuel happened one year later.
[edit] Technical Data
- Owner: Société Luxembourgeoise de Centrales Nucléaires (RWE subsidiary)
- Operator: RWE
- Building firm: ABB
- Type: Pressurized water reactor
- Rated output: 1,302 MWe
- First current production: 14. March 1986
- Storage capacity: 362 fuel elements
- Construction costses: 7 billion DM (3.58 billion euro)
- Height of the cooling tower: 162 m
- Height of the exhaust air fire-place: 161.5 m
[edit] Gallery
 The Mülheim-Kärlich town and the power station |
 The power station seen from the Festung Ehrenbreitstein castle |
 Chapel at the construction site 1976 |
 Construction as of 5. April 1976 |
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