Dodewaard (Image: Covra)
Dodewaard - a 55 MWe (net) boiling water reactor - was the Netherlands' first nuclear power plant. It was connected to the grid in October 1968 and operated until 1997, when it was shut-down for economic reasons. The last nuclear fuel was removed from the plant in April 2003. The plant was then partly demolished and partly preserved and has been in safe confinement since July 2005.
On 12 December, the shares of BV Gemeenschappelijke Kernenergiecentrale Nederland (GKN) were taken over by the State and then immediately transferred to the Central Organisation for Radioactive Waste (Covra).
"I am pleased with the confidence that the State is expressing in Covra with this," said Jan Boelen, general manager and director of Covra.
Covra said it is the only company in the Netherlands that "has the task of collecting, processing and storing all radioactive waste for the long term. This makes COVRA ideally suited to take on the long-term management of the location and the care for the dismantling of the Dodewaard nuclear power plant".
The dismantling of the plant should start around 2045, 40 years after the start of safe confinement.
