RWE's 1,400 MW Emsland PWR was one of Germany's last three reactors, shut on 15 April 2023. RWE received the dismantling permit in September 2024 and expects the plant to be released from the Atomic Energy Act by 2037.
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Current state
| Status | Active dismantling |
| Country | Germany |
| Location | Lingen, Lower Saxony |
| Site | Emsland / Lingen |
| Units | KKE |
| Unit count | 1 |
| Reactor types | PWR |
| Net capacity (MWe) | 1,335 |
| Owner / licensee | RWE Nuclear GmbH |
| Strategy | Immediate dismantling |
| Final shutdown | 2023-04-15 |
| Decommissioning start | 2024-09 |
| Target completion | 2037 |
| Spent fuel | Spent fuel cooling in the pool (as of April 2025) before transfer to the on-site Lingen interim store (operating since 2002). |
Notes
Separate earlier Lingen BWR (240 MW, 1968-77) on the adjacent site is also being dismantled by RWE; not counted here.
Timeline
- 2023-04-15 — Emsland was taken offline in Germany's nuclear phase-out. (source)
- 2024-03 — Primary circuit decontamination was carried out. (source)
- 2024-09 — RWE received the decommissioning and dismantling permit from Lower Saxony. (source)
The timeline is append-only: corrections are added as new entries. Stated targets appear in the current-state table, never as milestones.
Related sites
- Biblis Nuclear Power Plant (Units A and B) Active dismantling · Germany
- Brokdorf Nuclear Power Plant (KBR) Active dismantling · Germany
- Brunsbüttel Nuclear Power Plant (KKB) Active dismantling · Germany
- Chinshan Nuclear Power Plant Fuel removal · Taiwan
- Chooz A Active dismantling · France
- Crystal River Unit 3 Site restoration · United States
- Doel Nuclear Power Plant (Units 1-3) Shut down · Belgium
- Dounreay (DFR and PFR fast reactors) Active dismantling · United Kingdom
See all 72 sites in the Nuclear Decommissioning Tracker →
Sources
- Dismantling plant Emsland — RWE (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Stilllegungs- und Abbaugenehmigung für abgeschaltetes Kernkraftwerk Emsland erhalten — RWE (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Zwei Jahre nach dem Atomausstieg läuft bei allen AKW der Rückbau — BASE (Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management) (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Nuclear Power in Germany — World Nuclear Association, checked 2026-10-11