“German nuclear damage shows atomic and renewable power are unhappy bedfellows”

Damages discovered at Germany’s Brokdorf nuclear power plant seem to support the theory that nuclear power is not suitable as a bridging technology which could rapidly adapt power generation to the fluctuating supply of renewable electricity, writes Dagmar Dehmer in an article for Tagesspiegel, carried by EurActiv. Brokdorf has been off the grid since February, when unusually thick oxide layers were found on fuel rods. The corrosion was due to the mantle material used; the increase in the reactor’s capacity in 2006; and the recent practice of quickly increasing or decreasing electricity generation to compensate for excessive or reduced renewable output, according to a press release by Schleswig-Holstein’s state energy ministry (MELUR). Brokdorf will now be run in “safe mode”, with reduced capacity, and slower increases and decreases in generation. It is scheduled to be ultimately shut down in 2021.

Read the article in English here, the original in German here, and the MELUR press release in German here.

For background, read the CLEW dossier The challenges of Germany’s nuclear phase-out.