The dismantling of the four steam generators has been underway at Germany’s single unit Unterweser NPP in the Wesermarsch district of Lower Saxony since mid-May 2025, PreussenElektra said. This project marks the transition from dismantling work to gradual withdrawal from the control area and building decontamination and release. This phase will take another seven years.
The 1410 MWe pressurised water reactor was commissioned in 1978 but was shut down in March 2011, along with seven other NPPs, as part of Germany’s post-Fukushima decision to phase out nuclear power. The permit to decommission and dismantle the plant was granted in February 2018 and decommissioning began two weeks later. Until it was shut down, PreussenElektra’s Unterweser plant was the world’s most efficient single-unit NPP. PreussenElektra is also decommissioning the Brokdorf, Grafenrheinfeld, Grohnde, Isar 2 and Stade PWR NPPs.
The second of the four large components has now been lifted out of the Unterweser reactor building. The 20-metre high and 300-tonne steam generators are first lifted out of the control area as a whole and then made available for removal on the power plant site.
The planning for the disassembly of the steam generators began in 2021 and it was intended that the large components would be tackled in 2023. However, some structural changes in and on the reactor building had to be made in advance for the lifting and ejection of the huge containers. “Each of these not insignificant changes to the reactor building had to be carefully planned with our partners and comprehensively checked by our supervisory authority and its experts,” Project manager Attila Damon explained.
The original dismantling plan was adjusted accordingly. “Our sister plants at PreussenElektra now benefit from our experience, especially the Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant, where the structural preparations are already in full swing. I would like to thank the project team and our partner companies – above all Cyclife, Framatome and Mammoet, who are carrying out the major project together with us,” said Steffen Riesner, head of the Unterweser plant.
