Mülheim-Kärlich Nuclear Power Plant

The nuclear power station Mülheim Kärlich lies on the Rhine, about 10 km northwest from Koblenz, close to the town 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.HistoryThe plant was built from 1975 to 1986 and potential problems were apparent before construction was completed. There were complaints from municipalities and delays from various suppliers. It was revealed that the construction site lay in an earthquake prone basin, the Neuwieder Becken. Due to earthquake concerns, the location was moved 70 meters from where it had been originally planned.After just three 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 essentially had to start over completely in order for the plant to come back online. The government of Rhineland Palatinate granted the plant a building permit, but it was rescinded by the higher administrative court in Koblenz in 1991 and 1995.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.Technical data Owner: Société Luxembourgeoise de Centrales Nucléaires Operator: RWE Power AG Building firm: ABB Type: Pressurized water reactor Rated output: 1,308 MWe First current production: 14. March 1986 Storage capacity: 362 fuel elements Construction costs: 7 billion DM Height of the cooling tower: 162 m Height of the chimney: 161.5 m