The average German nuclear family consists of two parents and one or two children. For the past five years, thousands of them have gone on the ultimate nuclear family holiday, to an abandoned nuclear power plant.
Kernwasser Wunderland, or Nuclear Water Wonderland, opened to great fanfare five years ago, since when families have been flocking to the plant, near the north-west town of Kalkar.
"They are curious and like to come and have a look at what's become of the power plant," says Birte Schmitz, a company spokeswoman. Their interest is understandable: for years, the nuclear power plant was never out of the news.
The fast breeder reactor was built in the 1980s at a cost of DM8.75 billion (£3.5 billion), but concerns about the safety and viability of the plant halted the project in its test phase, before the fuel was delivered. The plant never produced any energy and remained a white elephant until 1996, when Hennie van der Most, a 50-year-old Dutch scrap-metal dealer, saw the plant by chance, during a visit to Germany to buy an old steam engine.
For an undisclosed - but believed to be knock-down - price, van der Most bought the plant and the surrounding 80 hectare site and went to work.
Five years and more than £25 million later, the park has six hotels with a total of 450 rooms, a conference centre and a sports and leisure park. The adjacent "family park" has roller coasters, water slides, bowling alleys and a motor-racing track. Building work is ongoing and the park will soon boast a shopping mall, a casino and a launch pad for hot-air balloons.
Disneyland has Sleeping Beauty Castle, but Kernwasser Wunderland has a huge concrete cooling tower painted with an alpine landscape. Would-be mountaineers can climb 40 metres up the side of the structure on a spe-visitors last year, according to Schmitz. The daily admission access to all of the rides and includes unlimited French Fries, ice cream and soft drinks. An entrance ticket including an overnight stay in one of the park's hotels costs DM100(IR 40)making, Kernwasser Wunderland popular for short breaks.
The sight of families relaxing in the shadow of the nuclear power plant's cooling tower might be a propaganda dream for energy companies, but it is at odds with environmentally conscious attitudes to nuclear power.
There are 19 nuclear power plants on the German national grid, generating 35 per cent of the country's electricity. But last June, the government's Green Party environment minister brokered a deal to phase out the plants over the next 30 years.
Until then, plant owners have been given permission to continue transporting their waste abroad for reprocessing. But recent transports of nuclear waste have been hugely controversial in Germany, with thousands of police fighting running battles with environmental protesters who will do anything they can to disrupt the journey of the waste.
Many people have switched to more expensive "bio" energy companies, which supply only energy that has been produced on wind farms and at hydroelectic plants.
Kernwasser Wunderland is keen to market its unique selling point, but is careful to distance itself from the plant's origin. The company has special deals for children to celebrate their birthdays in the park. If they get bored with the rides, they can pay an extra DM100 (£40) to go on a behind-the-scenes tour of the former nuclear plant with its mascot, Kernie.
