The power plant was built by Siemens and went online on May 19, 1972 shortly after having reached the first criticality on January 8, 1972.

This was the first time a nuclear power station had supplied thermal energy.

On Friday, November 14, 2003, at 8:32 a.m. the Stade nuclear power plant was shut down.

The Department of the Environment of Lower Saxony authorized the storage of weak nuclear waste until 2046.

[3] After shutdown of the Stade nuclear power plant, the operation of the nearby saltern has been shut down also.