GRAFENRHEINFELD (dpa-AFX) - Onlookers probably won't need ear protectors, and the FFP2 masks can stay in the cupboard: Unless something unforeseen happens in the last few meters, the cooling towers of the Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant in Lower Franconia will be blown up this Friday (August 16).

143 meters high, each with a diameter of around 105 meters at the base and around 64 meters at the top - the two colossi south of Schweinfurt are expected to collapse at around midday with only a few seconds between them. This will take place under the eyes of thousands of onlookers who will be able to sit outside the cordoned-off zone along the Main and in meadows and fields.

If all goes well, it will be the second time in Germany that the cooling towers of a decommissioned nuclear power plant have been blown up. In May 2020, two cooling towers of a nuclear power plant were blown up for the first time in Germany - in Philippsburg in Baden-Württemberg. However, due to the coronavirus, this took place without the public.

First fanfare and then a bang

"30 seconds - that's how long the party lasts," explains Matthias Aron, the responsible project manager at the power plant. The blasting is first announced by blasting signals, so-called fanfare blasts. There will be a bang immediately beforehand. This is to prevent animals such as birds that are still perched on the cooling towers from being harmed.

The actual blasting will then take place: First the northern tower with the internal name ZP2, followed 15 seconds later by ZP1. "A thunderclap is louder than the blast," assures plant manager Bernd Kaiser. If everything goes well, what remains is a very manageable pile of rubble.

According to Aron, more than two thirds of the material will be reused later, for example to create a storage area. According to the operator, Preussenelektra, the towers have no connection to the nuclear part of the plant, so they are not contaminated and no radioactive radiation will be released. The demolition of the cooling towers will cost a good three million euros in total.

Nuclear phase-out after Fukushima

Until it was shut down, the Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant was the oldest nuclear power plant still in operation in Germany. It was in operation for 33 years until 2015. Dismantling has been underway there since 2018 - and according to project manager Aron, it will probably take another ten years.

After the devastating reactor disaster in Fukushima, Japan, in March 2011, Germany switched to an anti-nuclear course. Eight mainly older nuclear power plants had to be taken off the grid for good in the summer of 2011. After a good six decades of nuclear energy in Germany, the last three nuclear power plants were shut down in April 2023. The final storage issue remains unresolved. 27,000 cubic meters of highly radioactive waste are the result of more than 60 years of nuclear power in Germany /aro/DP/he