atw - International Journal for Nuclear Power | 10.2020

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atw Vol. 65 (2020) | Issue 10 ı October 518 60 YEARS OF NUCLEAR POWER IN GERMANY Note: This article summarises previous articles published in atw about the start of nuclear power in Germany. 60 Years of Nuclear Power in Germany – Starting with First Criticality at the VAK, Kahl Christopher Weßelmann On 13 November 1960, 60 years ago, the reactor core of the “Kahl Experimental Nuclear Power Plant” on the Main reaches first criticality. This event marked a milestone in the history of energy supply in Germany, then the Federal Republic of Germany. Three years after a reactor in Germany reached first criticality for the first time ever – the Munich Research Reactor (FRM) in Garching near Munich was critically operated on 31 October 1957 – a nuclear power plant for electricity generation was commissioned. In the following years up to 1988, 35 further plants for electricity generation followed, some of which covered up to one third of the electricity demand in Germany and avoided up to 150 million tonnes of CO 2 -emissions per year, among others. Among others, the Geneva Atomic Energy Conference in August 1955 is mentioned as the birth of nuclear energy in Germany. There, the German delegation of officials and scientists sent to Geneva became aware of the enormous importance of civil nuclear energy development in the meantime and of the backlog that the Federal Republic of Germany was lagging behind. Two months after the Geneva Conference, the German Federal Ministry for Nuclear Affairs was founded. The first specific actions were then cooperation agreements with the USA and Great Britain in February and July 1956, and the elaboration of a draft for an Atomic Energy Act, which, however, fails at first, in July 1957, due to the lack of a two-thirds majority for the intended amendment of the German “Grundgesetz”. 1956 is also the year in which the first major research centres were founded in the Federal Republic of Germany. The KFA Jülich was founded in February 1956, the GKSS in Geesthacht in April and the KfK in Karlsruhe in July. In December 1957 – in the meantime, Prof. S. Balke had become minister, to whom nuclear energy in Germany owes much – the Atomic Commission adopted the first nuclear programme, the so-called 500 MW programme, which aimed at the construction of experimental reactors with this overall scope. Among the types it already mentions the heavy water reactor and the light water reactor, the high-temperature reactor and other advanced reactor lines and is visibly struggling with the variety of types of reactor lines. The programme saw the role of the state in coordi nating individual projects and pro viding financial start-up aid in all cases where the financial risk to industry appeared to be unacceptably high. The VAK project The first nuclear power plant in the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kahl experimental nuclear power plant, was financed and operated by the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG and the Bayernwerk AG. It was build by AEG as prime contractor with the participation of numerous companies, mainly the US General Electric, on a purely com mercial basis. At that time there was a significant difference in this respect compared to smaller or larger nuclear power plants built abroad. While there, the state had provided a con siderable part of the necessary funds either by full financing or by con siderable participation and thus assumed a corresponding financial risk, the first step in the Federal Republic was reserved for the private sector. When the nuclear power pioneer Heinrich Mandel ordered the experimental power plant from AEG in 1958, the mood for using this energy source was different from today: the Minister of Atomic Energy Franz Josef Strauß described the peaceful use of nuclear energy as the same turning point in human history as the invention of fire. Politicians were euphoric about nuclear energy across all parties, while power plant operators were rather reserved. Fossil fuels were available in abundance and at low cost, so the operators were reluctant to bow to the political desire to invest in this new, complex and therefore expensive energy technology. On 13 November 1960, the VAK was the first German nuclear power plant to achieve first criticality. As planned, the plant was shut down on 25 November 1985. In order to maintain the experimental character | Fig. 1. Construction of the „Versuchsatomkraftwerk Kahl“ (VAK), Germany, (June 1958 to November 1960). 60 Years of Nuclear Power in Germany 60 Years of Nuclear Power in Germany – Starting with First Criticality at the VAK, Kahl ı Christopher Weßelmann
atw Vol. 65 (2020) | Issue 10 ı October also beyond the operating phase, the plant operators agreed in advance to completely dismantle the VAK up to the “greenfield site” immediately after the end of operation. This became official on 17 May 2010 with the release of the plant from the scope of application of the Atomic Energy Act and the permission for demolition according to conventional building law. Construction and commissioning VAK was completed in only 29 months of construction time (cf. Figure 1). After completion of all tests and zero power tests (first partial licence of 8 November 1960), the first 29 fuel elements could be loaded in the reactor on 11 November 1960 accor ding to a previously determined site plan. On 13 November 1960, the VAK was commissioned as the first German nuclear power plant, it reached first criticality and was thus one of then 12 plants worldwide (cf. Table 1). The boiling water reactor of American design was designed for an electrical output of 16,000 kilowatts (16,000 kWe). On 17 June 1961, after the synchronisation of VAK with the grid, the first electricity generated from nuclear energy in the Federal Republic of Germany was fed into the public grid. Initially, a series of systematic measurements were carried out during the first continuous operation. These dealt, e.g., with the neutron flux distribution in the core and the natural circulation in the reactor. Thus, the core design procedures were confirmed in an experimental way in order to further develop them in the following years and use them for the design of further plants. Initial troubles, which inevitably occur when a new technology is used for the first time, were a challenge for the engineers and technicians on site. In the relatively small experimental plant (cf. Figure 2), the effort required to solve these initial problems has been usually manage able, but the knowledge gained was invaluable for later largescale plants. In the conventional field, experience was gained in the use of the saturated steam turbine, which had been rather unusual until then. Numerous backfitting measures during operation showed early on that a nuclear power plant can Country Power plant Power in MWe (number of reactors) Federal Republic of Germany France Great Britain | Tab. 1. Nuclear power plants in operation towards the end of 1961 and their electricity generation (if available, alphabetical order of the countries). | Fig. 2. Outline and ground plan of the VAK. Kahl 15 (1) 20,000 Marcoule G1 Marcoule G2 Marcoule G3 Calder Hall Chapelcross 5 (1) 32 (1) 32 (1) 152 (4) 152 (4) Soviet Union Obninsk 5 (1) USA EWC Vallecitos Shippingport Dresden Yankee 5 (1) 5 (1) 160 (1) 186 (1) 136 (1) Electricity generation until 1 November 1961 in MWh - 2,470,000 - 4,800 256,600 459,000 700,000 519 60 YEARS OF NUCLEAR POWER IN GERMANY 60 Years of Nuclear Power in Germany 60 Years of Nuclear Power in Germany – Starting with First Criticality at the VAK, Kahl ı Christopher Weßelmann
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atw - International Journal for Nuclear Power | 10.2020

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