The Fukushima reactor disaster had far-reaching consequences – not only in Japan, but also for the people in Biblis in southern Hesse. The nuclear power plant was shut down four years earlier than planned. Not everyone in the small town of 9,000 was happy about that. A site visit.
Anyone walking through Biblis will discover a lot of tranquility. Pretty half-timbered houses, some of them with lovingly painted shutters, the courtyards are clean and tidy. Town hall, florist, butcher: a small town idyll.
The power station is synonymous with the place
There is nothing to indicate that one of the most controversial nuclear power plants in Germany’s recent past was located about five kilometers as the crow flies. The two Biblis A and B blocks went online in 1974 and 1976. They were shut down on June 1, 2017. And yet they are still synonymous with the place today. “When I explain where I come from, I say Biblis – where the nuclear power plant is,” says a passer-by with a pram.
“I worked at the power station for 30 years,” says an older man thoughtfully. The power plant was safe. When asked about the numerous incidents that have occurred over the years, he replies: “At BASF, there have been incidents again and again. Every company has that. Only that has always been given higher priority at Biblis than elsewhere.”
Disaster in Japan with consequences for Biblis
The disaster in Fukushima, which began on March 11, 2011, shows the dramatic consequences that an accident in a nuclear power plant can have. Volker Ahlers, 1st chairman of the “Atomerbe Biblis” association, remembers: “It was a bizarre event for us because we were at the anti-nuclear demonstration in Neckarwestheim. On the way back the bus driver said ‘I have a message in You will be interested in the radio. ” The bus driver turned up the radio and the opponents of nuclear power learned about the tsunami off the coast of Japan and the subsequent explosions.
At that moment, he and his colleagues would have felt encouraged that they were fighting for the right thing, namely the exit from atomic energy. It will be some time before that happens. “At the moment there are still various reactors running, for example Neckarwestheim. A nuclear power plant that also has various defects.”
Problem: final disposal
In addition, fuel elements are produced in Germany and sold abroad. “So we earn a lot of money with nuclear power.” At the KIT research laboratory in Karlsruhe, research is being carried out into how miniature reactors can be built. And while research and production continue, there is still an urgent problem: “What to do with the old fuel elements, including those from Biblis A and B?”
The highly radioactive nuclear waste is currently being stored in Castoren in the interim storage facility of the Federal Society for Interim Storage at the Biblis site, says Alexander Scholl, spokesman for the former nuclear power plant operator, RWE. However, since the search for a possible repository is difficult, it may well be that the containers will remain here for a longer period of time.
The future of the site is uncertain
Josef Fiedler, the former long-time mayor of Biblis-Nordheim, also believes this. “This is a mortgage, it cannot be dismissed at all,” says the SPD man. As long as the spent fuel elements are stored at the gates of the city, that could also be a stumbling block for what happens on the former site of the power plant.
Even if a repository is found, he will probably not experience that anymore, says Fiedler. “The decision on the repository is to be made in the early 2030s, and then it will take another 20 years to set up.” That is how long the interim storage facility will at least keep the people in Biblis busy. In the 1960s, too little or no thought was given to what should happen to the nuclear waste.
Jobs, tax money and support lost
Josef Fiedler believes that the decision to take Biblis offline was the right one. However, many people lost their jobs as a result. And: “Since 2012 we have been missing around three million euros in taxpayers’ money a year that RWE has paid. With a population of around 9,000, that is a not inconsiderable sum.”
The many clubs have received support from RWE for this purpose. In addition, the city of Biblis set up a community foundation a few years ago, into which RWE paid several million euros. “The money is missing now,” says Fiedler. “And that doesn’t come back so quickly to that extent.”
Broadcast: hr1, March 11th, 2021, 7 a.m.
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