THTR-300, Nuclear power facility in Hamm, Germany.
The THTR-300 was a power station with a thorium high-temperature reactor that reached an electrical output of 300 megawatts. The site sits beside the Datteln-Hamm canal and once included a distinctive cooling tower and service buildings for fuel handling.
Construction began in 1971, and commercial operation ran from 1987 to 1988, before technical malfunctions forced permanent shutdown. The reactor concept using spherical fuel elements was considered forward-looking but proved difficult to manage and economically unfeasible.
The complex stands along the canal and forms part of an industrial landscape with winding towers and power station outlines in the distance. Visitors who pass the site today see only the grounds behind fencing, where the control rooms and cooling towers once stood.
The site is not open to the public and sits in an industrial zone next to Bergkamen power station. Those interested in the structure can view it from a distance on the opposite bank of the canal.
The reactor core operated with around 675,000 graphite spheres, each containing thorium-based material and continuously refilled. The helium gas reached exit temperatures of 750 degrees Celsius (1382 Fahrenheit), enabling simultaneous generation of electricity and process heat.
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