The energy issues and prospects of nuclear power development in the Federal Republic of Germany

In 1983, the total energy consumption in FRG amounted to 10,700 petajoule, which was covered by mineral oil (43.1 %), hard coal and lignite (32.3 %), natural gas (16.2 %), nuclear energy (5.9 %), hydro-power (2.5 %) and others. The dependence on imported energy sources such as mineral oil and natural gas is still high though the reduction has been achieved. The distribution of primary energy sources for utility power generation was hard coal and lignite for about 60 %, nuclear energy for 21 %, natural gas for 9 %, hydropower for 5 % and oil for 3 %. FRG is in a particular situation because of its domestic resources of hard coal and lignite. In the overall energy policy of the FRG government, the extended utilization of nuclear energy for base load power generation is advocated. The development of high temperature reactors is already a long tradition in FRG. A pilot plant of 15 MWe capacity has been operated for more than 15 years, and a prototype THTR-300 is nearly completed. The development of FBRs has been promoted by the European group, and the demonstration plant SNR-2 is planned. The problems and prospect of the nuclear fuel cycle, the supply of natural uranium and enriched uranium, and the waste management in FRG are reported. (Kako, I.)