Großwelzheim Nuclear Power Plant

Großwelzheim Nuclear Power Plant, (German: Kernkraftwerk Großwelzheim, HDR), was an experimental nuclear power plant consisting of one 25 MW reactor in Großwelzheim, a district of Karlstein am Main.

Großwelzheim Nuclear Power Plant
Karlstein am Main, Location of the plant
Country	Germany
Location	Karlstein am Main, Bavaria
Coordinates	50°3′29″N 8°59′13″E
Status	Decommissioned
Construction began	January 1, 1965
Commission date	July 17, 1961
Decommission date	April 20, 1971
Owner(s)	Heißdampfreaktor-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	Boiling water reactor
Thermal capacity	100 MWt
Power generation
Units decommissioned	1 x 25 MWe
Annual net output	6.2 GWh (in 1971)

The prototype boiling water reactor, designed to produce superheated steam was under construction from 1965 to 1969, and was first connected to the power grid on October 14th, 1969. The reactor could not be run at full capacity due to structural defects in the fuel elements.[1] Because of this, the reactor was switched off about a year and a half later on April 20, 1970.[2]

Karlstein am Main coat of arms.

After the decommissioning in 1983, the plant was used for reactor safety tests until dismantling was completed in 1998.[3]

The site also included the Kahl Nuclear Power Plant, the first nuclear reactor to be built in Germany, as well as the first to be shut down. This makes the site the first in Germany where two reactors have been dismantled.

When the community of Karlstein am Main was created in 1975, an atomic symbol was included in the municipal coat of arms, due to the two reactors present in the newly formed town.