Nuclear power | Discover conventional energy sources at RWE

Responsible dismantling

The German government made the decision to phase out nuclear power back in 2011. Originally, the scheduled final date of operation was 31 December 2022. However, due to the energy crisis it was decided to postpone that date once, to the middle of April 2023.

RWE reliably supplied countless households and the energy-intensive industry in Germany with electricity from nuclear energy for many years. Now, RWE is responsible for bringing this chapter to a close and safely dismantling its plants at the Biblis, Emsland, Gundremmingen, Lingen and Mülheim-Kärlich sites.

A top-down view of a nuclear reactor core with blue lighting, showcasing the fuel rods and hexagonal arrangements.

Responsibility for the interim storage of spent fuel elements was transferred to the federally owned Gesellschaft für Zwischenlagerung (BGZ) at the beginning of 2019. Accordingly, the German government is responsible for the implementation and financing of interim and final storage. The operators will continue to be organisationally and financially responsible for the decommissioning and safe dismantling of the nuclear power plants. The resulting radioactive waste is professionally packaged and then also transferred to the BGZ.