BBC – 30 May, 2011
Germany pledges to end all nuclear power by 2022
Germany’s ruling coalition says it has agreed a date of 2022 for the shutdown of all of its nuclear power plants.
Environment Minister Norbert Rottgen made the announcement after a meeting of the ruling coalition that lasted into the early hours of Monday.
Story here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13592208
Jimbo says:
May 30, 2011 at 9:34 am
I wonder why Russia is planning and constructing so many reactors when it has oooodles of oil and gas?
Because they plan on selling all that gas at exorbitant prices to the Germans.
Vlad Putin might not be the nicest person on the planet…but he recognizes an excellent business opportunity when he sees one.
Jimbo says:
May 30, 2011 at 10:17 am
France is going to be the new Saudi Arabia of the EU. 75% from nuclear – that’s what I call forward thinking. ;O)
In fact (straight from my bill)
Origine 2009 de l’électricité : 82,1% nucléaire, 9,5% renouvelables (dont 7,1% hydraulique), 3,5% charbon, 3% gaz, 1,6% fioul, 0,3% autres.
Whom the Dogs Would Destroy, They First Make Mad.
It’s rabies, I tells yez!
Let me see?
Germany is the economic powerhouse that is literally keeping the EU afloat with massive infusions of German taxpayers money in the way of bailouts!
Where did this money come from?
Answer: German has a dynamic economy, an industrious high tech, highly educated, highly mobile population, with a huge manufacturing base.
Where this money DOESN’T come from?
Answer: The government yes THEY SPEND IT, THEY PRINT MONEY, THEY WASTE MONEY, THEY CAN AND WILL DESTROY ANY ECONOMY EVENTUALLY!
What makes Germany successful apart from all the above, is the cost manufacturing or doing any kind of business products or services has to be produced and sold at a competitive rate, or it won’t be sold, except at bankruptcy sales.
The single largest cost is across the board is ENERGY. If the German government and the greens keep up this insane war on is energy, especially Nuclear power generation which is a vital source of abundant and economical electricity. They will destroy the goose that laid the golden egg.
I predict a massive industrial stampede out of German by manufactures accompanied by a brain drain of educated and skilled workers across the whole business sector (except PAWN AND SEX SHOPS) Nobody with a degree of intelligence will stay in a country that wages a semi religious and financial war against it’s middle class or the job makers.
For an example in the 1950’s to 1975 it was British brain drain that caused skilled and educated Brits to flee to every corner of the globe!
Good luck Germany, your going to need it and adios to the survival of the EU without her money!
2020 DER SPIEGAL HEAD LINE:
GERMANY PUTS GUN TO IT’S OWN HEAD, THEY PLAN TO DECOMMISSION NUCLEAR POWER – THE EU’S BANKER GOES KAPUT – THE EU COLLAPSES!
Just a point that the Germans might like consider…
After some hefty gales over the last few days, we are back to producing just under 1.5% of our electricity from wind….
It DOESN’T WORK, folks..!!
G. Karst: “So Germany has learned an important tradition from it’s old WWII ally (Japan) after-all – seppuku (also called hara-kiri)” – no, these people have not. Seppuku, after all, was expected from leaders, generals, people in power, pp., who had failed in their duties, lost battles, betrayed their lords, caused death and misery, or had thoroughly lost face – rather like Roman generals after a lost battle. It did not mean inflicting misery and suffering wilfully on your subjects, but paying the price for it. Which is what these people will never do. One can, however, wish heartily that they would.
UK Sceptic says:
May 30, 2011 at 4:08 am
It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with this lunatic, technologically regressive report from Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research, could it?
I think that’s what Jo Nova is on about:
http://joannenova.com.au/2011/05/only-an-eco-dictatorship-will-save-the-world-democracy-be-damned/
Germany has become the most politically correct nation on the Earth. Not difficult to understand when one considers that while the we accepted the communists and all things leftist were cellibrated by the media, anything German has been depicted as evil, Nazi, etc. The Germans are simply running away from a history which was written by the winners of WWII. Every action they take proves this point. They no longer have any National pride or belief in themselves and cannot seem to recall any of their very significant accomplishments in science or industry, of which there were many.
It’s not the first time Germany has been pushed in a disastrous direction by it’s Government.
Yes, shut down the nukes, hurry, and cover what’s left of Germany’s beautiful scenic countryside with the giant wind monstrosities. That will be much better.
Gute Nacht Frau Merkel, you’ve lost your mind.
Ref: Kohl Piersen
“Of course, nuclear safety problems can never be taken lightly. And it may even turn out that the designers at Fukushima did not take sufficient measures to avoid exactly the kind of accident which has eventuated in an earthquake and tsunami prone environment.”
Sort of hard to design for the reactor operators manually overriding the emergency shutdown equipment that engaged after the quake. Seems they became alarmed that the pressure vessel had dropped from 74 atmospheres to 45 atmospheres.
Then the tsunami arrived.
One last point of interest:
The conservative newspaper Die Welt writes:
“The nuclear phaseout marks a creeping rejection of the economic model which has transformed Germany into one of the richest countries in the world in recent decades. … What will the new energy age cost us Germans in terms of money and jobs? And are we completely indifferent to the risk of a major power outage? Just recently, the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance warned that Germany is totally unprepared for a large-scale blackout.”
“It is certainly true that our economic system can survive without nuclear power in the long term. But it is careless to carry out a phaseout under extreme time pressure, rushing it through with scant regard for how fast the economy can adapt. Energy is the lifeblood of industry, which in turn is the basis of our economy and our prosperity. A stable energy supply is taken for granted in Germany and is an enormously important locational advantage when attracting foreign investment. The mere impression that this supply is no longer 100 percent guaranteed would be enough to scare off investors.”
Politicians will say anything as long as it keeps them in power and looking good.
2022 eh? This is a politician’s way of saying never. If we want save the planet economically we need engineers running governments not lawyers and political scientists.
China is already offering positions for German nuclear engineers.
verivox.de/nachrichten/china-investiert-in-atomkraft-wirbt-deutsche-experten-an-73919.aspx
Trans: China is investing in nuclear …recruiting German experts.
80 gigawatt by 2020 is the target.
This message is for Joe Public
Killed by quake/tsunami: 14,617Still missing: 11,111
Refugees: 128,555 (quake/tsunami/evacuated nr Fukushima)
Number dead from Radiation: 0
Source, Earthquake Report, Excel Spreadsheet with data
The number of anti nuclear blogs still headlining the Fukushima crisis dwarfs the number reporting on the quake/tsunami consequences
The blog population and Joe Public remains deranged in its focus on what might of happened instead of what did happen
Half of the German nuclear reactors are GE Mark 1 like the Fukushima plants. They’re old and amortized anyway, and replacing them with more modern Gas-and-Steam turbine gas or coal power plants is sensible as long as we don’t have a better technology than Uranium pressure cookers.
The danger here in Germany is not the phase-out of these old nukes but it is a political danger; now that the Green movement has brought a panic-stricken populace on their side, they have tasted blood and they will want more.
Most of the followers are old; Germany today has no youth in large numbers. What will the pied pipers of this geriatric protest movement attack next? They will need another target for the next federal election.
The nukes are not important; the irrationality is. There was no sane public debate after Fukushima. I am surrounded by old crazies who can now celebrate their success. What will they demand next, is the question.
Worry not, Americans. They are weak and will not bring anything outside Germany down. The world is safe, the Vaterland is not.
Seems they are all crazy in Germany – and they want to export it:
http://icecap.us/
Climate Dictatorship of the Enlightened: More Great Ideas from Germany
By Chris Horner, The Spectator
“…A telling pull quote from the story is “Germany’s green government advisors admit frankly that decarbonization can only be achieved by the limitation of democracy – both nationally and internationally.”…”
E.M.Smith says:
May 30, 2011 at 10:25 am
You’d be amazed at the number of people with an irrational fear of anything nuclear.
They think that’s what happens in a ‘meltdown’.
The decision proves elected officials have a limitless capacity to do stupid things. The sad thing is these folks are supposed to be more informed than the general population.
The speed of their action shows how ignorant they are regarding the consequences.
Do Germans have a fear of earthquakes and Tsunamis in Germany? Why else would they worry over the nuclear safety tragedy in 2011 Japan?
Do Germans cower every time a train shakes the ground because they fear it is an earthquake? (sarcasm)
German hard coal and lignite reserves are discussed here:-
http://www.euracoal.be/pages/layout1sp.php?idpage=72
Much of the hard coal is imported from Russia / Ukraine / Poland / South Africa.
Almost 50% of German electricity now comes from coal & lignite. Wind and solar are unlikely to achieve a much larger share of electricity generation than they have at present, for the obvious reasons that it doesn’t work and is unaffordable.
It will be interesting to see whether the British or the German politicians blink first as their respective economies hurtle towards the cliff.
And, for the nuclear paranoics who have been commenting on here, comparing coal & nuclear, which industry has a better safety record over the last 50 years BY FAR?
Absolutely no question – nuclear is far and away safer both for workers in the industry and for the public at large, by probably two orders of magnitude or more.
And I’m in favour of coal…..(as well as gas and nuclear).
shev says:
May 30, 2011 at 9:31 am
________________________
Why don’t we look at the real data?
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/f1_lgraph-e.gif
A reasonable assessment is here:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/f12np-gaiyou_e_1.pdf
Diagrams and health risk charts are here.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/f12np-gaiyou_e_2.pdf
Radiation levels are falling, not rising. Rad levels are in the µSv/h range.
Your link mentions the suppression chamber and the drywell. You can select English to read that chart. Here is another reactor diagram.
http://regmedia.co.uk/2011/03/17/fukushima_schematic.jpg
Melting did not occur immediately or ‘within hours’ because the cores were still covered with water. As the pressure built up, operators had to vent the gas. When the rods became partially uncovered, the temperature rose in those uncovered sections to the point where water vapor could react with the zirconium alloy and produce H2. The venting allowed H2 into the building, leading to an explosion within hours. Workers tried to keep the reactors and the stored spent rods cool by pumping in sea water, however that was only marginally effective. The main cooling systems still didn’t work.
Materials such as fuel pellet debris is suspected to have fallen from the reactor pressure vessel to the bottom of the drywell (the primary containment vessel). If there is any water in the drywell, that might periodically cover this material and shield it from the radiation detectors. Note that the drywell levels rise and fall rapidly. However, the suppression chamber rad levels are quite low by comparison, and falling. There is no evidence that fission is occurring. Quite the opposite.
If you are serious about finding out what happened. Study this:
http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1306725917P.pdf
A lot has been learned, and engineers will make improvements. The learning process is comparable to train and airplane crashes. What were the actual effects of the Fukushima event? Almost no physical damage to people or the environment. Japan will fully recover. Replaced systems will need to be able to handle a large tsunami; these were not expected and may not recur for 500 years. The failed plants were all of the oldest designs. Fukushima Dai-ni has newer BWRs.
The last earthquake of comparable size near Sendai happened in the year 869.
http://www.paleoseismicity.org/blog/2011/03/11/mw8-9-earthquake-hits-japan-causes-tsunami/
Japan is resilient, wise, and determined. Its people will make the correct decisions. They know life is risky. You must take responsibility for yourself, and cooperate to strengthen your family, your community, and your nation.
Hysteria doesn’t help. That was my point.
So finally the Morgenthau plan will be reality, although somewhat late, I’m sure Morgenthau smiles in his heaven.
This is an excerpt from the (large) German news site spiegel.de
The articles are only from today…
SCIENCE | Nature | Technology | Climate change | more
Experiment with kites: Flying plants are expected to harvest wind energy
Climate statistics: Greenhouse gas emissions rising faster than ever before
Rock city of Petra: Archaeologists find bath house in the desert
Climate forecast: Warming makes parts of the Arctic impassable
EHEC pathogens: Experts fear more deaths