District heating of the places situated round the nuclear power plant KRB Gundremmingen

The study deals with the possibilities of district heat supply using the realistic example of the KRB Gundremmingen boiling-water reactor. In its final construction this nuclear power plant is layed out to produce a total power output of 2,870 MWsub(gross) with comprising blocks A, B and C; block A of a capacity of 250 MW has been operating since 1967. The area to be supplied is located in the Federal State of Bavaria, situated to the right and left of the Danube river, and comprises the districts of Dillingen and Guenzburg. It involves 8 places; the total number of population amounts to 55,000. Maximum straight-line distances from the nuclear power station are about 10 km in north-east direction, and about 15 km in south-west direction. The results show that some places indicate characters that are in favour of district heat supply. However, the heat price is adversely affected by the narrow road configuration in the ancient tower centers, the low consumption of heat resulting from the small number of inhabitants, as well as the large distances from the power station. The advanced projection of blocks B and C does no longer permit a thermodynamically meaningful extraction of heat from the power station, so that the advantage of cheap nuclear heat thus is partly lost again. Added to this is the fact that, due to the activity in the direct-cycle unit of the boiling-water reactor, the heat exchangers for district heat extraction fall into the controlled area, thus eventually impeding the licensing procedure. According to the calculations and estimated carried out, the heat price for residential heating expected at present are above those of individual central heating plants. (orig.)