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Nuclear Safety > Phase-out nuclear energy > Electricity volumes
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Electricity volumes
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With the 13th Law on the Amendment of the Atomic Energy Act of 31 July 2011 (which came into force on 6 August 2011) the Law on the Peaceful Utilisation of Nuclear Energy and the Protection against its Hazards (Atomic Energy Act) was amended. For each individual nuclear power plant (NPP) a concrete date has been set out for when it is to be shut down.
Furthermore, in column 2 of annex 3 to § 7 paragraph 1a, the Atomic Energy Act lists the electricity volumes (previously referred to as residual electricity volumes, see also column 2 of the table - in German) that can still be produced with reference date 1 January 2000. Once they have been produced, the authorisation for operating the plant will expire. According to the Atomic Energy Act there is the option to transfer electricity volumes from one NPP to another.
As early as in June 2001 the Federal Government and the utilities agreed upon a certain electricity volume for each nuclear power plant which the respective plant is authorised to produce from 1 January 2000. This corresponds to an operating time of approximately 32 years for each nuclear power plant and was laid down in the Atomic Energy Act in April 2002. In 2010 the Federal Government decided to extend the operating times of those nuclear power plants that had taken up power operation until and including 1980 by 8 years or, respectively, the operating times of the younger nuclear power plants by 14 years. Correspondingly, the Atomic Energy Act as amended in December 2010 allocated additional electricity volumes to individual nuclear power plants. Due to the reactor accident in Fukushima Daiichi, Japan, on 11 March 2011, the Federal Government decided to end the use of nuclear energy for commercial electricity generation as soon as possible. As a result, the Atomic Energy Act was again amended in August 2011. It does again contain exclusively the electricity volumes for each individual nuclear power plant that had already been set out in the previous version of the Atomic Energy Act of April 2002. The extension of operating times laid down in December 2010 was withdrawn and the additional electricity volumes were cancelled.
Additionally, the further authorisation for power operation was repealed for eight nuclear power plants. For the remaining nine nuclear power plants individual latest shut-down dates between 2015 and 2022 were laid down.
The Neckarwestheim NPP unit 1 (GKN1) had exhausted its electricity amount defined in column 2 of the annex 3 to § 7 para. 1a Atomic Energy Act in January 2011. Since then the plant operated with the additional electricity volumes according to the Atomic Energy Act as of December 2010. The GKN1 was shut down preliminarily in the scope of a Federal Government Moratorium of 14 March 2011. This shutdown became legally binding when the new Atomic Energy Act came into force on 6 August 2011.
Tasks of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS)The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) registers and documents the net electricity volumes produced in the German nuclear power plants and the electricity volumes remaining according to Atomic Energy Act. The utilities measure the produced net electricity and report the data to the BfS since May 2002 once a month. The measuring devices are tested by an independent expert organisation and the reported electricity volumes are certified by a public accountant. The functional inspection reports and the certificates by the public accountant are submitted to the BfS.
In 2001 and 2002, details on the measurement of the electricity volumes and data transfer, on the measuring devices’ calibration capability and on the confirmation through independent experts and the public accountant were agreed upon by the nuclear power plant operators, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), and the BfS.
Publication of electricity volumesThe BfS publishes the produced, transferred and remaining electricity volumes according to Atomic Energy Act in the Bundesanzeiger (Federal Law Gazette) since 10 July 2002. The announcement is published annually. Should an operating time of less than six months be expected due to the residual electricity volumes, the announcement is published monthly.
The table (in German) shows the data of the electricity volumes on 31 December 2011 as published on 30 March 2012 in the Federal Law Gazette.
Transfer of electricity volumesElectricity volumes may be transferred partially or in total from one – usually older and smaller – nuclear power plant to another. The transfer of the remaining electricity volumes of the nuclear power plants shut down on 6 August 2011 according to Atomic Energy Act is also an option (Biblis A, Neckarwestheim 1, Biblis B, Brunsbüttel, Isar 1, Unterweser, Philippsburg 1 and Krümmel).
Any transfer from a newer onto an older NPP requires the approval by the competent BMU in agreement with the Federal Chancellery and the Ministry of Economics and Technology. From the point of view of the BMU, a comparison of the safety level of the two NPPs affected needs to be conducted in this case. Transfers of electricity volumes need to be reported to the Federal Office for Radiation Protection and are taken into account when registering the electricity volumes.
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