The German government is still pursuing the complete exit from nuclear power, on the basis of a false assessment that this power source is unsafe. However, a world record in long-term reliability as an energy source has just been reached by the Grohnde plant in northern Germany, which, since it was put on the grid there in September 1984, has produced more than 400 terawatt hours of electricity. The 1,360-MWe German pressurised water reactor reached the production milestone at 11.00pm on 7 February, plant operator PreussenElektra announced today.
In addition to generating a record amount of electricity, over the past 36 years the operation of the Grohnde plant has avoided the emission of 400 million tonnes of carbon that would have otherwise been produced by coal and gas-fired power plants, according to PreussenElektra. Under Germany’s nuclear power phase-out policy, the Grohnde plant is to be permanently shut down by the end of this year.
