Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant: experience the cooling tower blasting
If the conditions are right, the two cooling towers in Grafenrheinfeld will be blown up this Friday at 6:30 pm.
On March 14, 2020, the cooling towers of the Philippsburg nuclear power plant were blown up. It will probably look similar in Grafenrheinfeld.
(Image: EnBW)
If conditions are optimal, the two cooling towers of the former nuclear power plant in Grafenrheinfeld will be blown up this Friday at 6:30 pm CET. The area around the nuclear power plant is cordoned off, but it will probably be possible to catch a glimpse of the event on site. Blast spotters can also take to the Internet.
Bayerischer Rundfunk has scouted out possible viewing locations for the blasting spectacle. For example, onlookers could take to the cycle path that runs from the Bergrheinfeld traffic circle in the direction of Hergolshausen for around four kilometers along the state road 2270. Halfway along the route, there is a foam opportunity about 800 meters from the cooling towers. Further south, the distance increases, but the terrain rises slightly, so there will be a clear view of the site almost all the way. Spectators will be able to set up along the Main and in the meadows and fields around the restricted area.
The operator PreussenElektra wants to film the blasting and publish the footage, but only after the blasting. If you wish to watch it online beforehand, you can find it in the ARD media library, for example. MDR has announced a live stream of the blast. Reporters from local broadcaster TV Mainfranken plan to report live from Grafenrheinfeld from 6:15 pm, while Stuttgarter Nachrichten is planning a stream from 6 pm.
Dust on insulator chains
However, the schedule may change. Four of the five 380-kV high-voltage lines that come together in Grafenrheinfeld and are important for Europe's power supply must be switched off before the blasting can take place. "If there is too much dust on the insulator chains of the individual circuits after the blasting", this could lead to an interruption in the operation of the individual circuits, explains Tennet spokesman Markus Lieberknecht.
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They can only be switched off if there is as little wind power as possible in the grid on that day. "Tennet will avoid overloading the electricity grid due to high wind feed-in and simultaneous shutdown of individual circuits," says Lieberknecht. Security of supply has priority. "If the weather forecasts indicate that a large amount of wind power will feed into the German and European power grid, further planned shutdown windows are available for a postponement on the following days and weekends."
The cooling towers are each 143 meters high, with a diameter of around 105 meters at the base and around 64 meters at the top. They are designed to collapse under their own weight a few seconds apart. To achieve this, drop and vertical slots will be made in the cooling tower shells. In addition, numerous holes will be drilled in the cooling tower supports and near the drop and vertical slots, which will be filled with explosive charges. The targeted blasting, combined with the attached slots, is intended to create a "blast mouth" that causes the cooling towers to collapse in a controlled manner. According to the operator, this type of blasting has already been carried out more than 50 times in Germany alone when demolishing cooling towers.
The Thuringian blasting company responsible does not reveal how much explosive is required for the total of around 34,000 tons of reinforced concrete, metals and plastics. Details such as the number of holes to be drilled, which will be filled with explosive charges, are also secret.
Second blasting of nuclear power plant cooling towers
Everything should be over within 30 seconds. The blast is first announced by fanfare blasts. Immediately before this, there is to be a bang; this scaring blast is intended to prevent birds still sitting on the cooling towers from being harmed. This is followed by the actual blasting: first the northern tower with the internal power plant name ZP2, followed 15 seconds later by ZP1.
After the blasting, the two grid operators Tennet and Bayernwerk have to check the existing circuits for damage and dirt. Experts also inspect the buildings on the site and the two interim storage facilities for highly radioactive waste. The demolition of the cooling towers will cost a good 3 million euros in total.
If everything goes smoothly, this will be the second time in Germany that cooling towers at a decommissioned nuclear power plant have been demolished. In May 2020, two cooling towers of a nuclear power plant in Philippsburg, Baden-WĂĽrttemberg, were blown up for the first time. The event took place without publicity at the time due to the coronavirus, but was extensively documented by the operator EnBW.
The Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant went into commercial operation in 1982 and was decommissioned in June 2015 in accordance with the 13th amendment to the German Nuclear Energy Act in 2012. Until then, it had produced 333,000 GWh of electricity. The decommissioning, which has been ongoing since 2018, is scheduled to take 15 years. It is not yet clear how the site will be used afterward. According to PreussenElektra, it makes sense to use the site for energy purposes.
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