Lubmin nuclear power plant: Dismantling significantly pricier and takes longer

The dismantling of the Lubmin nuclear power plant in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was supposed to cost 6.6 billion euros – It is now expected to cost at least 10 billion euros. This was reported by NDR, citing the Entsorgungswerk für Nuklearanlagen (EWN), a federally owned company responsible for the dismantling. So far, 4.2 billion euros have already been spent.

The higher costs are compounded by delays to the schedule. The original completion date of 2028 has been postponed until the mid-2040s. This entails further inflation-related cost risks.

Buildings more radioactively contaminated

One of the reasons for the cost increases is that buildings on the power plant site are more radioactively contaminated than originally expected. Special Building I is particularly affected by this. A particularly complex concrete removal under high safety standards is required there. However, delays in the search for a final repository, which led to higher operating expenses, and funding cuts by the federal government, which meant that 80 temporary workers had to be laid off, also contributed to the increased time and costs.

According to NDR, federal funding is to be increased again to attract new skilled workers. A new interim storage facility for radioactive waste is also planned. However, planning permission for this is not expected until 2027 or 2028 at the earliest. There are currently 74 Castor containers with highly radioactive waste in the current interim storage facility in the north.

Prestige object of the GDR

The Lubmin “Bruno Leuschner” nuclear power plant was once considered a prestige project of the GDR. It was gradually put into operation from 1974 and shut down in 1990 after reunification due to considerable safety concerns. It was finally shut down in 1995 and demolition began. Among other things, the power plant lacked containment, the emergency cooling system was not redundant and a failure of the main cooling system was considered unmanageable.

There were already safety concerns in GDR times. However, these were kept under wraps by higher authorities due to the strategic importance of the power plant, which made a significant contribution to the GDR's electricity supply. The power plant was initially commissioned with four units and was to be extended by a further four. However, only one of these was even put into operation on a trial basis. Another was completed but never used.

Several parts of the plant have already been dismantled, as the EWN explains on its website. These include the monitoring area, the ring water tank and large components.

(mki)