Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant
Encyclopedia
The shut down Nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...

 station Obrigheim
(KWO) lies in Obrigheim
Obrigheim
Obrigheim is a town in the district of Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany....

 in Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis
Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis
Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis is a district in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Main-Tauber-Kreis, Hohenlohe, Heilbronn, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Odenwaldkreis Hesse and Landkreis Miltenberg Bavaria...

 (a part of Neckar
Neckar
The Neckar is a long river, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, but also a short section through Hesse, in Germany. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the River Rhine...

). It operated one pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...

 unit.

History

Planning

On May 5, 1955 the Federal Republic of Germany, with the French occupation force, started to work seriously towards peaceful use of nuclear energy. Particularly the district of Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

 and Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

 were interested in such development. In 1957 the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kernkraft Stuttgart (AKS) group had already been created in Baden-Württemberg. The president and minister of economics of Baden-Württemberg at the time, Hermann Veit took over the project of establishing a nuclear power plant, and looked towards the Calder Hall
Calder Hall
Calder Hall can refer to -* Calder Hall Magnox nuclear power station at Sellafield* Calder Hall...

 Gas cooled reactor
Gas Cooled Reactor
A gas-cooled reactor is a nuclear reactor that uses graphite as a neutron moderator and carbon dioxide as coolant...

 in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 for a design.

In spring 1959, AKS chose an exotic reactor design, the organically moderated and cooled reactor
Organically moderated and cooled reactor
The organic moderated and cooled reactor was an early power reactor concept studied in the formative years of nuclear power by the United States Atomic Energy Commission and others around the world...

 (OMR). When the much smaller AEC
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...

 demonstration facility at Piqua, Ohio
Piqua, Ohio
Piqua is a city in Miami County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,738 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area.Piqua was one of the cities that experienced severe flooding during the Great Dayton Flood of 1913....

 reported severe problems, they switched to a light water reactor
Light water reactor
The light water reactor is a type of thermal reactor that uses normal water as its coolant and neutron moderator. Thermal reactors are the most common type of nuclear reactor, and light water reactors are the most common type of thermal reactor...

in 1962.

Power line to the plant

The electric power generated by Obrigheim Nuclear Power Station was transported by a single powerline to Hüffenhardt substation. This powerline carries 4 circuits, 2 for 220 kV and 2 for 110 kV. Hereby the circuits for 110 kV are mounted on the lowest of the three crossbars of the pylons, whereby the circuits for 220 kV are mounted on the middle and the upper crossbar of the pylons.

An interesting feature of the powerline is, that between the pylons insulators are monted between the conductors in order to prevent short circuits by too close conductor clearance when strong wind occurs.

Meteorological towers

For radioactivity monitoring there were two meteorological towers, which were both built as guyed lattice steel mast. One of them was built in 1977/78 between Asbach and Kirstätter Hof at 49 20 30 N and 9 02 47 E. In 2001 this 169 metres tall guyed mast was demolished by explosives. On its site afterwards a free-standing mobile phone transmission tower consisting of prefabricated concrete was built. The other meteorological tower, which is 99 metres tall and situated close to the power plant, was erected in 1962 and is still in use.
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