The plant, which was once a symbol of Germany's energy independence, was taken out of service in 2015 after 33 years, per DPA. Germany was reportedly alarmed by Japan's Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011 and then-chancellor Angela Merkel declared nuclear power would be phased out in the country after 6 decades of the country's reliance on it.
Eight older nuclear plants were decommissioned in the summer of 2011 and the last three were shut down in April of 2023. Grafenrheinfeld marks the second demolition of cooling towers from a decommissioned German nuclear power plant, the first being in May 2020 at the Philippsburg nuclear power plant.
The cost to blow up the cooling towers was over €3 million. Dismantling of Grafenrheinfeld started in 2018 and will take around another decade to complete according to the project manager. He stated that over two-thirds of the material from the demolished cooling towers can be reused.
Onlookers were allowed to watch the demolition from a safe distance.
