The plant began operations in October 1986, and was decommissioned on December 31st, 2021 as part of the German phaseout of nuclear power.

The plant was built by a first-of-its-kind joint venture between PreussenElektra AG and Hamburgische Electricitäts-Werke, since 2002 part of Vattenfall.

[1] In May 2021, the 1,400 MW HVDC subsea power cable NordLink between Norway and Germany's Wilster substation near Brokdorf was opened.

[2] For a period of time, the closure of the plant forced Germany to rely on coal and natural gas, primarily from Russia, to generate electricity.

The plant is a pressurized water reactor with uranium dioxide fuel elements, which are used in degrees of enrichment of 1.9%, 2.5% and 3.5%.