Biblis Nuclear Power Plant
Closed nuclear power plant in Germany From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Biblis Nuclear Power Plant is in the South Hessian municipality of Biblis and consists of two units: unit A with a gross output of 1200 megawatts and unit B with a gross output of 1300 megawatts. Both units are pressurized water reactors. The operator of this power plant is the German RWE Power AG, an electrical utility based in Essen. Unit A began operation on July 16, 1974, and entered commercial service on August 25, 1974; unit B reached criticality on March 25, 1976[citation needed]. Both units now are shut down indefinitely for political reasons (Atomausstieg).
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2009) |
| Biblis Nuclear Power Plant | |
|---|---|
 Unit A, seen from South-West with two cooling towers | |
 | |
| Country | Germany |
| Location | Biblis |
| Coordinates | 49°42′36″N 8°24′55″E |
| Status | Closed since 18 March 2011 |
| Construction began | 1969 |
| Commission date | August 25, 1974 |
| Decommission date |
|
| Operator(s) | RWE |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | PWR |
| Reactor supplier | Siemens |
| Cooling towers | 4 |
| Cooling source | Rhine River |
| Power generation | |
| Make and model | Siemens |
| Units decommissioned | 1 x 1,255 MW 1 x 1,300 MW |
| Nameplate capacity | 2,525 MW |
| Capacity factor | 69.2% |
| Annual net output | 15,306 GW·h |
| External links | |
| Website | Site c/o RWE |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
Biblis is the partner power station of the Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant[citation needed].
In March 2013, the administrative court for the German state of Hesse ruled that a three-month closure imposed by the government on the Biblis A and B reactors as an immediate response to the Fukushima accident was illegal.[1] The state ministry of the environment acted illegally in March 2011, when an order was issued for the immediate closure of the Biblis units. RWE complied with the decree by shutting Biblis-A immediately, however as the plants were in compliance with the relevant safety requirements, the German government had no legal grounds for shutting them. The court ruled that the closure notice was illegal because RWE had not been given sufficient opportunity to respond to the order. Nevertheless, the units are now indefinitely shut down, based on the later political phaseout decision (Atomausstieg).
On December 17, 1987, an incident (INES 1) occurred: Operators overlooked a stop valve that had not been closed. In order to close the armature a valve was opened. The radioactive primary cooling water discharged for a short time into the annular space. Because the discharge of the reactor cooling water took place outside of the reactor containment, there was potentially no feedback from the sump over the safety cooling pumps. The incident became public one year later, when an article in an American technical periodical (Nucleonic Weeks) was published.
There have been no other events higher than 0 on the INES scale.[2]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Biblis Nuclear Power Plant.
Biblis Nuclear Power Plant (Germany), block A (right) - block B (left)
Security measures on South site
Ref-flow from cooling towers into the Rhine river (unit A in the background)
Biblis Nuclear Power Plant is on the Rhine river. On the right side two cooling towers from unit A. In the background a ship landing place where heavy components such as reactor vessels and steam generators were landed by ship.
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