Neckarwestheim (dpa/lsw) - After the safety deficiencies discovered in the Bavarian Isar 2 nuclear power plant, cracks in tubes in the Neckarwestheim 2 nuclear power plant in Baden-Württemberg have also become public. Opponents of nuclear power therefore questioned the state environment ministry's operating license for the reactor on Wednesday. For years now, large numbers of new, dangerous cracks have been forming on thin-walled pipes, they warned. Like Isar 2, Neckarwestheim is intended as an emergency reserve by Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens). This plan may now also be thwarted from Baden-Württemberg.
"If just one of the approximately 16,000 pipes burst, ripped off or broke due to such a crack, this would already be a coolant loss accident that would be difficult to control," says a statement from the anti-nuclear power plant organization broadcast and the Association of Middle Neckar Citizens' Initiatives (BBMN). This could lead to a meltdown in the "crack reactor". The operator EnBW has so far failed to provide evidence of precautions to be able to rule out a leak from the tubes.
According to Habeck, the Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim kilns should be available as an emergency reserve from January to mid-April to produce electricity when the winter is hard and energy consumption is high. But now that Isar 2 has to be repaired and can only be started up once more, the plan is on the brink. The Mannheim Administrative Court will negotiate on December 14th about the approval for the operation of Neckarwestheim.
