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Emmerthal (dpa / lni) - The Grohnde nuclear power plant near Hameln is to be shut down for good at the end of December.
The exact day has not yet been determined, said the operator Preussenelektra at the request of the German Press Agency.
"In all likelihood, this day will be in the second half of December 2021."
The dismantling of the plant is to begin one year after the shutdown.
However, the approval of the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment is still missing.
The approval process began at the end of 2017.
Preussenelektra expects the nuclear dismantling to take 10 to 15 years.
"This will be followed by around two years for the conventional demolition of the building," it said.
The Grohnde nuclear power plant went into operation in 1985.
According to Preussenelektra, it was among the ten most powerful nuclear power plants in the world in terms of annual electricity production.
The decommissioning is part of the nuclear phase-out in Germany decided in 2011.
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So far, around 500 people are employed at the Grohnde nuclear power plant, around 300 of them from Preussenelektra.
During the dismantling, this number will gradually decrease, the operator announced.
The company spoke of "adjustments" that should be made in a socially acceptable manner.
The Ministry of the Environment in Hanover pointed out that the operating license for the power plant ends on December 31, 2021.
Last spring, the nuclear power plant was taken off the grid for six weeks of maintenance.
Because of the corona-related additional protective measures, the annual revision took longer than planned.
Among other things, 32 of the 193 fuel elements in the reactor core were replaced.
Only a reportable finding was found - a fault in a circuit breaker, which, according to the Ministry of the Environment, had little relevance to safety.
In the annual balance sheet, the number of reportable events in Grohnde has recently decreased: from eight in 2019 to three in 2020.
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Only six nuclear power plants are still in operation in Germany.
In addition to Grohnde, this also includes the Emsland nuclear power plant in Lower Saxony.
Grohnde, Gundremmingen C and Brokdorf will be shut down by the end of 2021, and by the end of 2022 the last German nuclear power plants will follow with Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim 2.
There have been protests against nuclear energy in Germany for decades because of its potentially great danger to the environment and security.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210126-99-169253 / 2
Preussenelektra on the Grohnde nuclear power plant
Federal Office for the operating times of the nuclear power plants