Construction site of the week – Dismantling of nuclear power plant in Stade

The nuclear power plant in Stade (Lower Saxony) was the first power plant in Germany to be decommissioned after the nuclear phase-out in 2003. DA member company Freimuth Abbruch und Recycling GmbH is currently carrying out the demolition. The large-scale project comprises a total of 17 building complexes with a converted space of approx. 199,745 m3. The turbine house is the largest building, at approx. 33.50 m high and with a converted space of approx. 105,500 m3.

Up to 40 decontamination specialists carried out the gutting and pollutant cleanup

The first phase of construction, which includes two building complexes with approximately 12,500 m3 of enclosed space, has been undergoing demolition since January 2023. After setting up the construction site, the gutting and remediation of the two building complexes followed with up to 40 remediators. This resulted in approx. 250 tons of asbestos and approx. 115 tons of KMF, which were properly disposed of.

Lonfront and cable excavators with wrecking balls are used

Demolition work is currently being carried out using 15–20 excavators with an operating weight of 30–110 tons. Long-front hydraulic excavators with concrete shears are being used for the higher parts of the building. Due to the heavy reinforcement of the supporting structure, the turbine house must be demolished using a cable excavator with a wrecking ball. So far, approx. 22,000 m3 of reinforced concrete, approx. 3,550 tons of reinforcing steel and approx. 1,700 tons of construction steel have been removed.
The processing of the rubble is carried out using a mobile crushing plant from Kleemann.

The demolition area, which covers a total of approx. 2 hectares, is located outside the city center, but in close proximity to the Elbe. Measures to reduce dust and noise emissions as well as vibrations have been implemented. Work on construction phase I will continue until November 30, 2024. Construction phases II (5 building complexes) and III (10 building complexes) have been running in parallel since 2023.

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Photos: Freimuth Unternehmensgruppe