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#ndr ndrdoku #nuclear power plant The days of the Unterweser nuclear power plant in the Wesermarsch district are numbered. Power plant operator PreussenElektra has begun dismantling the reactor that was shut down in 2011. The dimensions of the dismantling are gigantic: According to calculations by PreussenElektra, a total of 675,000 tons of demolition material must be disposed of - of which around 482,000 tons are concrete, cables and steel from the conventional part. The total mass of the nuclear control area with the reactor building and the auxiliary plant building is 193,000 tons. The dismantling of the nuclear power plant is taking place from the inside out. First, the more radioactive parts of the plant in the control area are dismantled in order to reduce the radiation exposure for the staff as much as possible. The reactor components are crushed under water. This shields the radiation and prevents dust from being released into the air. Every single part of the nuclear power plant must be sawn into 80 centimeters and examined in detail for radiation. 98 percent of the components are to be returned to the natural recycling cycle, i.e. recycled. Citizens' initiatives, however, see a safety risk and are concerned that radioactive waste will end up in neighboring landfills. They want to sue. PreussenElektra, on the other hand, promises the greatest possible transparency and refers to experience in power plant dismantling. The 180 power plant employees are happy that things are finally getting started. The dismantling will take around 15 years. The costs amount to around one billion euros. The report from the series How does it work? accompanies the start of dismantling of what was once the most powerful reactor in the world. More information is available here: https://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendunge...