Newsletter XV 2023

9 until 15. April

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Nuclear Power Accidents

This PDF file contains a list of accidents and releases of radioactivity. Some of this information was only made public under the most difficult of circumstances. As new information emerges, this list will be expanded and updated...

Excerpt for this month:

3 April 1960 (INES 4) NPP WTR-2 reactor, Waltz Mill, USA

5 April 1968 (INES 5 | NAMS 5) Nuclear factory Mayak, USSR

6 April 1993 (INES 4 | NAMS 4,8) Nuclear factory Tomsk 7, RUS

7 April 1989 (Broken Arrow) Submarine K-278 sank south of Bear Island, USSR

10 April 2003 (INES 3 | NAMS 3,9) NPP Paks, HUN

April 10th to May 15st, 1967 (INES ? Class.?) Nuclear factory Mayak, USSR

10 April 1963, Submarine SSN-593 sank 350 km from Cape Cod, USA

11 April 1970 (Broken Arrow) Submarine K-8 sank in the Bay of Biscay, USSR

11 April 1968, Submarine K-129 sunk 2900 km northwest of Hawaii, USSR

19 April 2005 (INES 3) Nuclear factory Sellafield, GBR

21 April 1957 (INES 4) Nuclear factory Mayak, USSR

26 April 1986 (INES 7 | NAMS 8) NPP Chernobyl, USSR

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We are looking for current information. If you can help, please send a message to: nukleare-welt@reaktorpleite.de

15. April

Renaissance | EPR | SMR | WNISR 

state of the nuclear industry

"Plans don't produce electricity"

The nuclear renaissance has been heralded for decades, but the numbers tell a different story, says nuclear expert Mycle Schneider. However, governments and representatives of the people in many EU countries followed an irrational nuclear myth and influential lobbyists.

Klimareporter°: Mr. Schneider, Germany, as the largest economy in the EU, is finally phasing out nuclear power. Neighboring countries, on the other hand, want to build new reactors: France, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Poland, as well as a number of other EU countries. Has the German exit fallen out of time?

Mycle Schneider: No, it accelerates a process that is slower, unplanned and often painfully endured in other countries. Announcements about the construction of new nuclear power plants are not enough to transform wishful thinking into industrial reality.

So you don't expect that the 15 to 20 nuclear power plants planned or announced in the EU will actually be built?

It is simply impossible because the necessary industrial capacities are lacking. If it could take until after 2050 in France for the first six new nuclear power plants to go into operation, as a leaked government analysis shows, how is it supposed to work in the Netherlands, Poland or Sweden, which do not have their own nuclear industry in the country?

Only two nuclear power plants have been built in the EU in the last 30 years, the French EPR projects Olkiluoto 3 in Finland and Flamanville 3 in France. After 17 years of construction, the Finnish reactor produced some electricity this spring and was then shut down again due to damage to the feedwater pumps. The French one hasn't delivered a kilowatt hour even after 16 years...

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Again really switch off, before it goes on:

9 a.m. to 15 p.m. at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin

12 noon on the Odeonsplatz in Munich

13 p.m. in front of the fuel element factory in Lingen

13 p.m. in the parking lot in front of the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant

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Sanctions | Russia | fuel elements uranium

"An extremely sensitive area"

Habeck for sanctions against Russia's nuclear industry

Despite the attack on Ukraine, Russia continues to ship uranium to Europe for nuclear power plants. Economics Minister Habeck is in favor of sanctions to prevent this dependency. According to the Green politician, Moscow can no longer be regarded as a reliable partner.

Against the background of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the German government is pushing for EU sanctions against Russia's nuclear industry. Economics Minister Robert Habeck told the dpa that it had been seen that Russia was specifically using dependencies in the energy sector as a means of exerting pressure.

"The federal government has therefore now spoken to the European Commission in favor of including the civilian nuclear sector. That should be part of the next package of sanctions." The nuclear power Russia supplies, among other things, uranium for nuclear fuel rods and stores radioactive waste. One must continue to make oneself independent of Russia across the EU, said Habeck ...

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nuclear phase-out debate | EnBW | Renewables

EnBW boss on nuclear phase-out:

"Surprised by Public Discussions"

The last reactors will go offline this Saturday, but the debate about nuclear power continues. Incomprehensible, says EnBW boss Schell on ZDF and calls for a look ahead.

"What are we talking about? We have a law passed by the Bundestag to phase out nuclear energy and that gives us very clear guidelines: [...] to end electricity generation from nuclear energy. And we have prepared for this and plan to do so and to take Neckarwestheim off the grid.

I was a bit surprised by the intensity of the public discussion over the past few days and I would like to see this discussion redirected to a discussion about the restructuring of our energy system, the expansion of renewable energies, so that we can really transform our energy system to shape the future."

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Energy transition | Lindner | Kini Jödler

Lindner sees no "realistic idea" in nuclear power comeback

His party criticized the end of nuclear power. For the FDP boss, however, the end of nuclear power is now sealed. Markus Söder sees it differently.

Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner (FDP) sees the shutdown of the last three nuclear power plants on Saturday as the end of nuclear power in Germany after more than 60 years. He doesn't think a comeback of nuclear power at some point in the future is "a realistic idea," Lindner told Welt TV on Friday. Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) meanwhile reiterated his call to examine a return to the use of nuclear energy...

14. April

discarded | Atoms for Peace | Repository

There is no alternative to nuclear power off – the future belongs to renewable energies

This Saturday the last piles will finally be switched off. Nuclear power is too expensive and too risky.

Berlin – “Better active today than radioactive tomorrow.” That was the battle cry with which the first anti-nuclear activists in the 1970s began their seemingly hopeless fight against the new form of energy introduced the decade before. The focal points were Wyhl, the planned nuclear power plant site in Baden, and Gorleben in Lower Saxony, where a national "nuclear disposal center" including a repository was to be built. Half a century later, Germany is finally phasing out nuclear power. The last three nuclear power plants go offline. This is a cause for celebration, even if business associations and politicians in the Union, FDP and AfD claim the opposite. 

AKW-Aus without alternative - the future applies to renewable energies

Nuclear power was never the savior it was initially jazzed up as, first in the USA and then in this country as well. After the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the motto was: "Atoms for Peace", said US President Eisenhower in his famous speech to the UN. As compensation for the atomic bombs dropped, the world should be blessed with civilian "uranium machines". It was said that electricity would become so cheap that it wouldn't be worth keeping meters running. These and other even more grotesque promises never came true...

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URENCO | SMR Generation IV | Investors

New nuclear concepts - No commercial investors

URENCO withdraws from development of new advanced modular nuclear reactors

The one-third German uranium enrichment company for nuclear fuel is completing its development work on a new advanced modular nuclear reactor. The reason given by the company with uranium plants in Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and the USA was that it had not been able to find commercial investors for further development. A message that somehow does not want to fit into the current hype about the great new reactor concepts. URENCO, whose German location in Gronau has so far been excluded from the nuclear phase-out, had already published a corresponding press release in the second half of March, which was not noticed by the German media ...

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Nuclear phase-out | Survey

ARD Germany trend: Majority finds nuclear phase-out wrong

Shortly before the end of the last nuclear power plants, more than half of Germans consider the decision to be wrong. The Environment Minister refers to the nuclear waste problem.

BERLIN dpa | According to surveys, a majority of Germans are critical of the nuclear phase-out planned for Saturday. Significantly more than half (59 percent) consider the political decision to be wrong, only around a third (34 percent) think it was right, according to the Deutschlandtrend survey for the ARD “Morgenmagazin”.

According to the Infratest-Dimap survey, there is overwhelming approval for the end of nuclear power only in the 18 to 34 age group (50 to 39 percent), while rejection predominates among middle-aged and older age groups.

The step is evaluated differently by the supporters of the parties: while supporters of the Greens (82 percent) and the SPD (56 percent) welcome the end of nuclear energy, supporters of the Union parties (83 percent) and AfD (81 percent) are almost united against it. The majority of FDP supporters (65 percent) also vote against an exit ...

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Lemke | Exit | highly radioactive

The Environment Minister's five reasons

That's why we're getting out of nuclear power

On Saturday, the switch will be flipped in the last three German nuclear power plants. Germany is finally phasing out nuclear power.

As a country whose prosperity is also based on energy-intensive industries - mechanical engineering, automotive and chemical industries - we need a secure and affordable energy supply. To ensure that this is also guaranteed in the future, we are investing heavily in the expansion of renewable energies.

As the minister responsible for nuclear safety, I consider the phase-out of nuclear power to be a good and forward-looking decision. There are many important reasons for this. I want to highlight five of them.

First: The nuclear phase-out makes Germany safer. No nuclear power plant in the world can rule out the possibility of a catastrophic accident - be it through human error like in Chernobyl, through a natural disaster like in Fukushima, through terrorist attacks, plane crashes or unidentified security gaps. Or, in the worst case, through attacks like the ones Ukraine has to endure as a result of Russia's war...

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Poland | Westinghouse | Areva

The government in Poland wants to get into nuclear power - and relies on a crisis group

Energy and climate - compact: government is aiming for new nuclear power plants. But their meaning is being questioned throughout Europe. But Warsaw is likely to regret the plans for another reason.

Poland is getting into nuclear power, tagesschau.de reported on Tuesday. The former US group Westinghouse is to build six pressurized water reactors, each with an output of a good 1.000 megawatts and should be completed by 2046. The start of construction for the first reactor is given as 2026.

[...]

westing house Wasn't there something? Exactly. Westinghouse is also one of those cases where bankruptcy vultures are circling. As early as 2006, the once leading US nuclear power plant manufacturer was taken over by the Japanese manufacturer Toshiba, but the business collapsed after the multiple reactor accidents in Fukushima, Japan, in 2011 at the latest...

13. April

France | Cracks | EDF

France's nuclear problem fleet

Cracks in the atomic model country

France generates two-thirds of its electricity in nuclear power plants – when the reactors are not idle due to corrosion or drought. Nuclear power could become a financial disaster for the whole country, but the Macron government has no plan B.

Germany and France are seen as the engines of the European Union. They are the two largest economies in the EU with comparable per capita economic output. But in energy policy, they are treading paths that could not be more different.

This is becoming particularly clear: the Federal Republic is finally phasing out nuclear power and is aiming for 100 percent renewable energies, while the "grande nation" is sticking to nuclear fission and even wants to build a number of new nuclear power plants that can also be used in Germany should still supply electricity in the second half of the century.​

France is more dependent on nuclear power than any other country in the world. There are 56 reactors running there, which in recent years have supplied an average of around two thirds of the electricity consumed, which is also used for heating in many households...

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CO2 emissions | CO2 withdrawal | CCS | Cement

New plant to process CO2 from cement factory

The production of cement produces more CO2 than air travel and data centers combined. Solutions for recycling are needed. A plant that can process carbon dioxide is being built in a cement plant in Lengfurt, Lower Franconia.

The cement industry is one of the main causes of CO2 emissions. That could soon change in the cement plant in Lengfurt in the Main-Spessart district. The industrial group Linde and the building materials company Heidelberg Materials are building a joint facility there for the capture and subsequent reuse of carbon dioxide. As the two companies announced, the plant is scheduled to go into operation in 2025.

One of the first large-scale CCU systems

In the plant, around 70.000 tons of the CO2 produced during production are to be separated and processed for further use. The process is called "Carbon Capture and Utilization", or CCU for short. A distinction must be made between this and the CCS process, in which carbon dioxide is captured and then stored...

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China | Nuclear fusion | Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST)

China succeeds in the next big step with the tokamak fusion reactor

Chinese researchers have made good progress in the practical implementation of nuclear fusion. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) set a new world record for keeping a plasma stable.

According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a successful experiment was carried out at the facility of the Institute of Plasma Physics on Wednesday. The hot plasma could now be kept stable in its magnetic field for 403 seconds. The previous record for an attempt of this kind was 101 seconds and was also set at EAST in 2017 ...

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battery technology | Saving resources | Raw material recycling

"Innobatt" develops new, powerful and resource-saving battery storage

The "Innobatt" joint project is pursuing a new, holistic approach for application-specific battery storage that takes into account the value chain from the basic material to subsequent recycling. According to a statement, the aim of the consortium of science and industry is to develop a sustainable and intelligent electrical storage system that is designed for resource-saving production, outstanding operational safety and easy recyclability.

The starting point is the inexpensive cell chemistry of the aluminum ion battery (AIB), which works with non-flammable materials and dispenses with critical raw materials. The Innobatt project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the "Battery2020Transfer" program ...

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Lingen fuel assemblies | Uranium hexafluoride | Advanced Nuclear Fuels

How dangerous is the production of fuel elements in Lingen?

The risk of a super meltdown has decreased with the closure of the Emsland nuclear power plant in Lingen. And with it the danger of radioactive contamination of entire regions - right?

Lingen has been a nuclear power location for a long time. Two nuclear power plants were operated here. The older Lingen nuclear power plant is already being dismantled, the younger Emsland nuclear power plant is now being shut down and then also dismantled. In a factory right next door, however, fuel elements have been manufactured since 1979 and continue to be so, i.e. central components of a nuclear power plant. What danger does it pose?

Uranium is radioactive - but above all very toxic

Anyone who wants to know how risky it is to produce fuel elements from uranium hexafluoride for use in nuclear power plants will first find terms such as criticality safety, accident prevention and contamination controls on the relevant page of the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment under "Safety and environmental protection" - and then inevitably think about them Chernobyl and Fukushima. We are talking about enriched uranium hexafluoride, which is chemically processed in complicated processes and ends up in fuel elements as uranium oxide. However, uranium is radioactive and therefore potentially dangerous for humans and the environment. But above all, it is also very poisonous ...

12. April

Residual risk | Super GAU | Safety | Propaganda

The invention of the “residual risk”

Nuclear power plants were not allowed to appear dangerous. For this reason, a semantic trick was used for the imponderables they emanate.

Are nuclear power plants dangerous? They only have a “residual risk”, was the argument of their proponents for a long time. The word first appeared in the early 70s. It comes from the independent science minister of the social-liberal coalition, Hans Leussink. It was later used as a semantic trick. "Residual" risk was intended to pretend that the risk of an uncontrollable accident in a nuclear power plant with massive release of radiation - a "super meltdown" (biggest accident to be expected) - was tolerable because of its low probability ...

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EU Commission | Taxonomy | Greenwashing

Planes and ships are now sustainable

The EU Commission wants to include ships and aircraft in the taxonomy and thus label them as sustainable investments. Environmental groups fear that this is the "nail in the coffin" for the credibility of the taxonomy. The last word has not yet been spoken.

If only everything were that simple. A few plenary sessions here, a few signatures there, and planes and ships are "green". At least that's how the European Commission would like it to be.

This would like to include shipping and aviation in the EU taxonomy. Investments in ships and aircraft would therefore be considered climate-friendly. Although the machines would have to be equipped with drives of the latest design, they could still be operated with fossil fuels.

"Millions of euros could flow to some of Europe's biggest polluters such as Airbus, Ryanair and MSC," comments the transport NGO Transport and Environment (T&E) on the Commission's decision.

In fact, over 90 percent of the Airbus fleet meets the Commission's specifications. And even just under a fifth of the aircraft from low-cost airlines such as Easyjet and Ryanair would then be "green"...

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Turkey | Renewables | Nuclear power price | Akkuyu | uranium atlas

Turkish uranium atlas shows how expensive nuclear power is / Turkish-language edition of the uranium atlas published

The Turkish-language edition of the Uranium Atlas that has now been published not only reveals the enormous ecological consequences caused by nuclear power and the uranium mining that is necessary for it, but also how disastrous the economic consequences for Turkey will be ...

Renewable energies in Turkey cost only a fraction of what nuclear power costs, as the Turkish uranium atlas shows. Electricity from wind power can currently be generated for 2 cents per kilowatt hour, solar power between 1 and 1,7 cents. These figures come from the most recent tenders for renewable energies in Turkey. The current state purchase guarantees for renewable energies in Turkey are much lower than the guarantee that the Russian state-owned company Rosatom, which operates the nuclear power plant in Akkuyu, receives (12,35 dollar cents per kilowatt hour). Government guarantees range from 1,7 to 2,7 cents for biomass, 2,15 cents for hydroelectric power and 2,9 cents for geothermal, which also operates XNUMX/XNUMX...

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Nuclear waste | Subsidies | follow-up costs

Expensive legacy: Looking back on 60 years of nuclear energy in numbers

With the shutdown of the last German nuclear power plants, an era comes to an end. The consequences are difficult to calculate. It's not just about billions - it remains a dangerous burden for thousands of generations.

Nuclear power plants in Germany produced electricity for around six decades. The search for a repository for high-level radioactive waste from these facilities will take a million years. Was it worth it? Attempt at a small balance sheet in numbers.

QUANTITYAccording to the Federal Ministry of Economics, 1962 nuclear power plants have been connected to the grid in Germany since 37 - not including research reactors. The first feed-in in the Federal Republic was in 1961 in the Kahl experimental nuclear power plant in Bavaria. In the GDR, the plant in Rheinsberg (today in the state of Brandenburg) went into operation in 1966.

TERMS: For example, the nuclear power plants in Grohnde (Lower Saxony), Gundremmingen (Bavaria) and Obrigheim (Baden-Württemberg) were connected to the grid for a very long time at 37 years, but other plants also ran for more than 30 years. In contrast, the kiln in Mülheim-Kärlich near Koblenz, which cost around seven billion marks (3,6 billion euros), was only in operation for a very short time. After the test run, it only ran for 100 days due to the lack of a building permit. In the GDR plants in Rheinsberg and Greifswald, the nuclear power era came to an end shortly after reunification due to safety concerns. A huge facility near Stendal remained a ruin...

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Energy transition | Nuclear lobby | power gap

The nuclear and coal lobby deserves the political blackout

With the argument of an alleged "power gap", the nuclear and coal lobby have repeatedly slowed down the energy transition - and thus caused a power gap to keep old nuclear and coal-fired power plants running. Such narratives finally deserve the political blackout.

Until shortly before Ultimo, the nuclear power lobby is still trying to extend the operation of the last three German nuclear power plants. The FDP even recognizes six locations that could be mothballed for better times and thus saved.

One of the more intelligent arguments in the debate at the moment is that it would have been wiser to phase out electricity from fossil coal first and then nuclear power.

With a – possibly even early – phase-out of coal, there is a risk of a power gap that endangers the stability of the grid, it is said. Thousands of megawatts of so-called hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants are to be built as a substitute for coal - but until they are connected to the grid, it would be good to have nuclear power plants in reserve, the nuclear lobby insists ...

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Nuclear phase-out | Nuclear waste | Repository | Responsibility

Ex-Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin: "The nuclear phase-out is not a Greens event"

As Minister for the Environment, Jürgen Trittin initiated the first nuclear phase-out. Shortly before the nuclear power plant shut down, he defended the measure and attacked the CDU and FDP.

[...]

Unfortunately, the CDU and FDP rashly dissolved this consensus in 2010, only to return to it in 2011. That cost us 2,1 billion euros, that's Scheuer's proportions. We are well advised not to make the nuclear phase-out dependent on polls.

[...]

Will the nuclear phase-out also be carried out because it is part of the founding myth of the Greens?

No, the nuclear phase-out is not a Greens event. In 2011 we had a consensus between almost all parties, some of which are now saying goodbye. However, we are used to unreliability from the CDU. Next Saturday is a real success for the Greens. We launched the energy transition and the decarbonization of Germany.

Will the nuclear power era end on Saturday?

We will continue to deal with nuclear power until at least 2060. That's how long it will take to find a repository for the world's most dangerous waste. The entry into nuclear energy took place without knowing what to do with the nuclear waste. Now one stands before the legacy of this time. Unfortunately, this irresponsibility towards future generations will remain with us.

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Drinking water | Glyphosate | Pesticide

New material efficiently filters glyphosate from water

• The plant protection product (pesticide) glyphosate can be found in almost all running water and in groundwater
• A new filter based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can efficiently filter the controversial chemical from water
• Because the binding of glyphosate to the filter material is weak, it can be rinsed out and used several times

A new filter based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can effectively remove the crop protection agent (pesticide) glyphosate from water.

Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) have now presented a filter that can effectively remove the pesticide from water. According to their publication in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, the filter is made of metallic and organic materials...

11. April

nuclear phase-out debate | Greens | FDP | CDU

Commentary on the nuclear phase-out

An under-complex and highly ideologized debate

A few days before the last nuclear reactors were shut down, a debate about the phase-out broke out. But instead of factual arguments, the arguments are ideological, says Ann-Kathrin Büüsker. The German energy fiasco is also a consequence of this culture of debate.

The debate about the German nuclear phase-out is a good example of how political discussions should not be conducted. It is so highly ideologized that factual arguments no longer stand a chance.

On the last few meters towards nuclear phase-out, all political parties are now trying to signal one last time where they stand. The Greens are happy that it's over, they have more or less achieved their founding goal. Also at the price that climate-damaging coal-fired power plants will step in as a reserve where renewables have not yet been sufficiently built.

Union has blocked the nuclear phase-out for years

The Union has blocked their expansion and the necessary transmission networks for years - although they themselves decided to phase out nuclear power in 2011 - together with the FDP. The entry into renewables was delayed, but the nuclear phase-out is still happening - the result is that coal now has to step in to some extent. This is a legacy of Angela Merkel's government actions. It seems almost absurd when the Union of all people complains about this situation...

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Japan nuclear waste

radioactive waste

34.000 tons of radioactive sewage sludge are stored in the Japanese region of Kanto

According to five prefectures, around 34.200 tons of radioactive sewage sludge caused by the Fukushima disaster are still stored in the Kanto region.

Most of the waste is declared as incinerated ash. Since it is difficult to obtain a permit for dumping radioactive waste in ports, forests and mountains at the regional level, some of the waste has nowhere to be dumped even 12 years after the disaster ...

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anti-nuclear movement | Emsland | Isar | Neckarwestheim

History of the anti-nuclear movement:

nuclear power? Bye and no thanks!

People have been protesting against nuclear power for 50 years. The last nuclear power plants will be shut down in mid-April. Has the movement achieved its goal?

The Würgassen nuclear power plant on the Weser is just a ruin. Demolition began more than 20 years ago, the reactor has long been gutted, only the massive shell still towers over the treetops. The dismantling has cost more than a billion euros so far. Around 450.000 tons of steel and concrete have to give way, 5.000 tons of which are classified as radioactive waste. Würgassen was the only commercial nuclear power plant in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was shut down in 1997, an inspection revealed cracks in the reactor's steel shell, and the operator shied away from the economic risk of an expensive conversion.

"There is nothing to be seen here of the promised green field," says Arno Schelle. "Instead, they want to build a gigantic nuclear waste storage facility here."

[...]

And now? After the final shutdown of the last nuclear power plants on April 15, is there still a need for movement? Yes, of course, says Wolfgang Ehmke. The remaining initiatives on the ground would have many tasks. So there remains "the uncertainty of what will happen to the nuclear plants in Lingen and Gronau". The uranium enrichment plant and the fuel element factory are exempt from the nuclear phase-out. In addition, it is "absurd that the 'exit country Germany' contributes to the fact that nuclear power plants can be operated elsewhere".

Whatever remains is the nuclear waste. At the end of last year, the Federal Agency for Disposal made headlines by admitting that a repository site would not be set in 2031, as intended, but around 30 years later. "Until then," says Ehmke, "the garbage has to be stored temporarily, and that's a ticking time bomb."

Arno Schelle makes a similar statement when looking at the nuclear ruins in Würgassen. “Despite all the joy at what has been achieved, it is not a feeling of triumph that prevails, but thoughtfulness. We have to remain vigilant.” But first we have to celebrate: for the coming weekend, anti-nuclear initiatives invite you to “switch-off festivals” in Lingen, Munich and Neckarwestheim.

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Lingen fuel element factory | Rosatom | Framatome

German nuclear power plants go off the grid - but environmentalists are not satisfied

The French group Framatome establishes a joint venture with the Russian state-owned company Rosatom. The world market is to be supplied with fuel rods from Lingen in Germany. FDP wants to stick to nuclear energy.

The nuclear phase-out in Germany is finally to be completed next Saturday. The last three ancient kilns are to be shut down on April 15th. While some parties want to keep a back door open for nuclear reactors, the federal government remains inconsistent when it comes to the nuclear industry.

The piles were not necessary for the power supply in Germany anyway. The dangerous extension of the running time via a stretching operation, which was also supported by the Greens in the traffic light coalition, served primarily as an emergency reserve for France's energy supply.

There the power gap became larger and larger because the cracks in the French reactors also became larger. But the climate catastrophe, with a very mild winter, ultimately prevented a power failure in France, which the government had also feared.

The neoliberals from the FDP do not want to admit defeat, however, because they want to continue to help their French neighbors if necessary. The party was already able to successfully push the SPD and the Greens along last fall, and not only on the nuclear issue. One got the impression that FDP leader Christian Lindner was setting the tone as a "shadow chancellor"...

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Dear friends,

we are calling you again today to the big anti-nuclear demo on this day Saturday, April 15, at 13 p.m. in front of the fuel element factory in Lingen on. Let's prevent together that the Kremlin group Rosatom in Lingen enters and together with the French. State-owned company Framatome sabotaged the nuclear phase-out and thereby further expanded the energy dependency on Russia in the nuclear sector. The demo then goes to another rally in front of the neighboring RWE nuclear power plant in Emsland.

All current demo information with call and shuttle bus from Lingen train station (12.30 p.m.) at: https://atomstadt-lingen.de/aktuelles

On Saturday, the last three large nuclear power plants in Germany - Emsland, Neckarwestheim and Isar - will finally be taken off the grid after decades of fighting. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets for this, and tens of thousands had to make rather unpleasant acquaintances with the police and the judiciary. The next trial is currently scheduled for Monday, April 17, at 13.15:XNUMX p.m. before the Ahaus district court - this time in connection with the spectacular occupation of the power pole at the Gronau uranium enrichment plant last May.

The shutdown of the large nuclear power plants is a hard-fought and dearly bought success of the anti-nuclear movement - we celebrate that -

BUT: April 15 does not mark the long-awaited nuclear phase-out in Germany and certainly not the last days of nuclear power - in Germany and internationally.

BECAUSE: With the fuel element factory in Lingen, the uranium enrichment plant in Gronau - where more than 100 people demonstrated on Good Friday on an Easter march - and the research reactor in Garching, three internationally important nuclear plants remain in operation in Germany.

The current plans of Framatome, together with Rosatom "Russian" fuel elements for e.g. Manufacturing ancient Soviet-Russian nuclear power plants in part in Eastern Europe would make the Emsland an active and internationally central nuclear site for decades (!) - and that with the participation of the Kremlin. This must not happen!

That's why we're bringing colorful and determined protest to the streets in Lingen on Saturday - be there!

And another point: for us, the shutdown of the Lingen nuclear power plant will of course not make RWE a good group overnight. Lützerath, Hambi, LNG terminals off Rügen, participation in the Gronau uranium enricher Urenco, participation in the Borssele nuclear power plant in the Netherlands - RWE is and will remain an irresponsible company that is destroying our environment and our climate. There is still a lot to do as part of the climate movement! Experience shows: Large corporations and the energy transition are fighting each other - that's why we are calling for the dissolution of large corporations such as RWE, E.ON or Uniper - the energy transition belongs in decentralized citizens' hands. Then it works!

On to Lingen!

Nuclear-free climate greetings
Sofa (immediate phase-out of nuclear power) Münster, action alliance Münsterland against nuclear plants
www.sofa-ms.de, www.urantransport.de

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11 April 1970 (Broken Arrow) Submarine K-8 sank in the Bay of Biscay

The Soviet nuclear submarine K-8 sank on April 11, 1970 in the Bay of Biscay and 52 sailors died. Since then there are about 20 nuclear torpedoes in about 4500 m depth and rusting ...

Bellona

http://spb.org.ru/bellona/ehome/russia/nfl/nfl8.htm#O2

The first accident involving a Soviet nuclear submarine involved the Project 8A November-class ship K-627, which sank on April 8, 1970 while returning from exercise OKEAN in the Bay of Biscay. Two fires broke out simultaneously in the third (middle) and eighth compartments. The submarine surfaced, but the crew was unable to put out the fires. The reactor's emergency systems kicked in, leaving the submarine with virtually no power. The auxiliary diesel generators could not be started either. The control room and all adjacent compartments were filled with fire gases. Air was pumped into the aft main ballast tanks to keep the ship afloat. By April 10, the air tanks were empty and water began to flow into the seventh and eighth compartments. On the evening of April 10, part of the crew was evacuated to an escort ship. On the morning of April 11 at 06:20, the submarine sank to a depth of 4680 meters after losing stability on the tilt. Fifty-two people died, including the ship's captain. The details of this accident were kept secret until 1991.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Wikipedia

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-8_(U-Boot)

K-8

The K-8 was a Cold War-era nuclear submarine of the Soviet Navy. It was the second nuclear submarine commissioned by the Soviet Union, designated Project 627A. Its sinking in 1970 was the first loss of the Soviet nuclear navy...

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11 April 1968 (Broken Arrow) Submarine K-129 sank 2900 km northwest of Hawaii

K-129, the diesel-powered submarine of the Gulf class sank with 3 nuclear missiles on board about 2900 km northwest of Hawaii to about 5000 meters depth and 96 sailors died. Six years later it was adopted by the United States Azorian project partially recovered...

Wikipedia

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-129

K-129

The K-129 (Soviet designation: PL-574) was a Soviet Project 629 (Golf-class) submarine. It was a diesel-electric powered missile submarine. After sinking in 1968, it was partially raised by the United States Navy in 1974 in the Azorian Project...

YouTube

The search for K-129 and Azorian project resulted in the following hits:

Death in the Deep - Superpowers slugfest

The Azorian Project: Mystery of Submarine K129 Documentary

10. April

Nuclear power expensive | Power generation | Electricity price

Nuclear power plants do not make economic sense

• According to some politicians, nuclear power plants should replace power plants with fossil fuels in the fight against climate change in order to reduce CO₂ emissions
• A study now shows that this does not make economic sense
• Instead, investments in wind, water and solar energy are significantly more worthwhile

Nuclear energy is often viewed as a substitute for fossil fuels to reduce CO₂ emissions. A study now shows that this does not make sense from an economic perspective.

[...]

On behalf of the Green parliamentary group, scientists from the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin) and the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) have now investigated whether extending the service life of nuclear power plants or even building new nuclear power plants would make economic sense.

Nuclear power is far too expensive

According to the study, nuclear power is significantly too expensive compared to other methods of generating electricity ...

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Easter March | détente policy

Return to the policy of detente demanded

Around 4000 people demonstrate on the Römerberg in Frankfurt am Main

Around 80 people are standing in front of the US Consulate General in Frankfurt am Main on Monday and are demanding disarmament and immediate peace negotiations in the Ukraine war. The main speaker at this rally as part of this year's Easter march in Frankfurt, Matthias Jochheim, believes that the consulate, with its 900 employees, is the right address for the protest. He demands that the US government reactivate a number of détente agreements: the INF Treaty, which provided for the disarmament of short- and medium-range missiles, the Open Skies Agreement and the ABM Agreement, which aimed to limit missile defense systems. ..

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Lobby Armor Atom | FDP | MIC | Rheinmetall

Rheinmetall: How the Ukraine war put the armaments company on the road to success

The armaments group Rheinmetall is based in Germany. But many profits go to the USA. Agnes Strack-Zimmermann has connections to the group.

[...]

Who are the shareholders? Rheinmetall does not name any names. From stock exchange portals and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): Rheinmetall has 280 state-registered shareholders. The largest are Blackrock, Wellington, Fidelity, Harris Associates, John Hancock, Capital Group, Vanguard, EuroPacific Growth Fund, LSV. Like most of the smaller ones, they come from the USA. So Rheinmetall is not German at all. Half of the 25.500 employees work in Germany, the other half in 33 other countries. But most of the profits go to the United States.

[...]

In 2014, Rheinmetall brought the former FDP General Secretary Dirk Niebel to the Düsseldorf headquarters as head of international strategy development and government relations. He was previously a member of the Federal Security Council. Above all: Niebel was Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development from 2009 to 2013. For example, the group set up branches in South Africa, Malaysia, India, Brazil, Mexico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.

While Niebel proceeded discreetly, the journalist Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP) became the best-known armaments and war lobbyist. She is on the executive committee of FKH and DWT. From 2008 to 2014 she was FDP parliamentary group leader and first mayor in Düsseldorf, the Rheinmetall Group headquarters. She has been chairwoman of the FDP district association in Düsseldorf since 2014. So she became chairwoman of the defense committee in the German Bundestag ...

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10 April 2003 (INES 3 | NAMS 3,9) NPP Paks, HUN

Wikipedia

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernkraftwerk_Paks

During cleaning work in unit 2 of the Paks nuclear power plant, the sheathing of fuel rods was damaged. Radioactive gas escaped, causing a "serious incident" (INES 3). Nobody was injured in this accident. However, the measuring probes in the area registered inert gas levels above the limit values.

AtomkraftwerkePlag

https://atomkraftwerkeplag.fandom.com/de/wiki/Paks_(Ungarn) 

... A report by the IAEA said that increased radiation had first been detected in a cleaning tank near the reactor core and that the cleaning system had been opened. "It turned out that the majority of the 30 fuel elements were overheated and severely damaged or melted due to a lack of cooling." The wrecked fuel elements were transported by rail to Mayak in Russia in August 2014 without the public being informed at the time...

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April 10th to May 15st, 1967 (INES class.?!!) Nuclear factory Mayak, USSR

Wikipedia

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerntechnische_Anlage_Majak#1967:_Kontaminierte_Staubstürme

1967: Contaminated dust storms

A period of drought in the spring of 1967 led to a sinking water level in Lake Karachay, which was used as an interim storage facility. Between April 10 and May 15, strong winds transported radioactive sediment dust from the dry shores over an area of ​​1.800 to 5.000 km2. Their total activity is estimated by various sources at 22 TBq to 220 TBq (2,2 to 22 x 1013 Bq).

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10 April 1963 (Broken Arrow) Submarine SSN-593 sank 350 km from Cape Cod

Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Sinking of the USS Thresher (SSN 593)

-

Wikipedia

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thresher_(SSN-593)

USS Thresher (SSN-593)

The USS Thresher (SSN-593) was a nuclear-powered submarine of the United States Navy and belonged to the Thresher-class named after her. The boat, which entered service in 1961, was lost on April 10, 1963 during dive tests about 350 kilometers off Cape Cod on the east coast of the United States, killing 129 people. This made the Thresher the first sunken nuclear submarine.

An uncontrollable inrush of water is assumed to be the reason for the sinking. Due to a short circuit that occurred as a result, the reactor switched itself off automatically and thus failed the boat's drive, whereupon the Thresher sank below its destruction depth. After a long search, the US Navy was able to locate the wreck and take photos that showed that the pressure hull was still stable when it sank and was only crushed at a great depth by the increasing water pressure.

The wreck still lies at a depth of around 2.500 meters on the seabed...

9. April

Energy supply | renewable | Fossil | lobbyist

Thermodynamics in the energy debate

Who burns, wastes. Always!

Did you know that you can cook salmon in the engine compartment of your car while driving? This has to do with a very simple rule – one that also helps separate climate disinformation from fact.

It is impossible to construct a periodic machine which does nothing but lift a load and cool a reservoir of heat.

Max Planck, "Thermodynamics", 1897

You always hated physics at school? Please continue reading anyway. It won't be bad, I promise.

In truth, the matter of energy supply, the future and the climate is actually quite simple. Politically organizing what needs to be done is a bit more complicated.

[...]

The Guardian quotes a gas lobbyist who said at a congress in Barcelona: "The gas boiler is our livelihood, if it is banned we have a real problem." The same man also said: "We are working intensively with regulators to to see if we can position the gas boiler as the heating technology of the future, powered by renewable gas.” But the man works for a company that sells natural gas.

So if someone claims to be able to heat, drive or do something else more efficiently with combustion processes, caution is generally required. Lobbyists lie, distort, and obfuscate to keep their business models alive, even as they drag the planet down the abyss.

Physics, on the other hand, doesn't lie.

Two parameters should be relevant for energy technology of the future: how much energy something really consumes over its entire life cycle, and how much CO₂ and other pollutants are released in the process. Burning things will usually do very poorly.

Anyone who claims otherwise is lying. As simple as that.

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Wind turbines | Renewable permits | Bavaria

More wind turbines are being built in Germany again

Industry data show: The expansion of wind energy is progressing - but not everywhere in Germany. A "de facto failure" are Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.

From the point of view of the industry, an end to the slack in the expansion of wind turbines on land is in sight. More new wind turbines were connected to the grid in the first three months of the year. In addition, the number of newly approved wind turbines increased significantly compared to the same quarter of the previous year. This was the result of a preliminary evaluation by the onshore wind energy agency, which is available to the dpa news agency.

[...]

However, the expansion is apparently not progressing at the same pace everywhere in Germany. The fact that Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and Saxony are lagging behind despite good conditions is worrying, said the President of the Federal Association, Hermann Albers. The numbers could also be better in Hesse and Thuringia.

The situation is particularly bad in the south. The federal association criticized a "de facto failure" in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. The southern region accounted for only 7,8 percent of new construction and only 4,5 percent of permits. In Baden-Württemberg only one new plant was approved in the first quarter, in Bavaria only two...

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Media | Warmonger | accomplices

The US empire and the complicity of intellectuals

Imperial states like the USA act brutally again and again. With well-meaning intentions, wars are sold. The silence of the "intellectual elite" is nothing more than complicity with the warmongers. (part 2, end)

Today we are witnessing a confrontation between American, Russian and Chinese imperialism. There is also the morbid pretension of the United Kingdom, which, despite its abysmal social and political decline, has not yet realized that the British Empire is long gone.

I am against all imperialism and I admit that Russian or Chinese imperialism could prove to be the more dangerous in the future, but I have no doubt that US imperialism, with its military and financial superiority, is currently the most dangerous of everyone is.

Of course, superiority is not enough to guarantee its longevity. In fact, I have argued, with reference to North American institutions (like the National Intelligence Council), that it is a declining empire, but it may be that its very decline is one of the factors that helps explain why the US is particularly strong at the moment are dangerous.

I condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine from the start, but I've since pointed out that the US actively dragged Moscow into this conflict to weaken Russia and contain China. The momentum of US imperialism seems unstoppable, fueled by the perennial belief that the destruction it instigates, encourages or provokes takes place far from its borders, since the country is protected by two great oceans.. .

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Current news+

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Switzerland | traffic light climate | CO2 emissions | CO2 withdrawal | CO2 price

Traffic light climate, Switzerland as a role model and the better alternative to e-fuels

As a large industrial country, Germany will probably not be able to completely avoid all CO2 emissions, says Hartmut Graßl, physicist and member of the editorial board of Klimareporter°. Whether injecting the gas under the North Sea can be a safe option should therefore be investigated quickly.

Climate Reporter°: Mr. Graßl, less than a week after the IPCC had completed work on the 6th status report with the synthesis report, the traffic light coalition decided after days of deliberations to soften the climate protection law and to abolish the strict sector targets. What do you think - has the government not taken note of the synthesis report?

Hartmut Grassl: The Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been included in the reports of the three working groups of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since August 2021 and spring 2021, and is now only presented in a summarized form.

For me, one of the central statements of the sixth assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is: Compliance with the Paris Agreement of 2015 can no longer only be achieved by drastic and rapid reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases, but only additionally by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The globally coordinated climate protection policy required for the internationally binding agreement has largely been lacking for too long.

This CO2 removal from the air is still necessary if the central goal of the Paris Agreement "warming well below two degrees Celsius" is aimed at and not the more demanding goal of a maximum of 1,5 degrees warming (compared to the time before industrialization ). Measures to remove the CO2 are afforestation, restoration of near-natural ecosystems such as the drained moors, storage of CO2 in deeper layers of the earth's crust.

The cancellation of the sector targets while maintaining the overall target by the current government is not a broken leg at first, but is perceived as such by the majority of the population. It was probably necessary to improve the climate in the governing coalition.

There are definitely risks involved in injecting CO2 under the sea floor. Experts say that these can be controlled. Germany, too, must store CO2 under the sea in order to meet its climate targets, according to the "Deutsche Allianz Meeresforschung". Have we now emitted so much CO2 that we can no longer avoid storing it?

New technologies, here the intentional storage of CO2 in the earth's crust, almost always lead to heated debates with on the one hand the overemphasis on the risks by those (supposedly) affected and on the other hand the downplaying of the risks by economically interested circles. This also applies to CO2 storage under the seabed.

There are not only estimates with calculation models, but also the long-standing practice of using CO2 to accelerate oil production, especially in the USA, as well as experiments by research groups in two sea areas, namely the North Sea and the Barents Sea.

These investigations by international research groups into leaks in former natural gas and oil storage facilities now used by Norway as CO2 storage have shown that the injected CO2 stays there and the leakage rate is minimal. Because Norway has been pricing CO1991 emissions since 2, storing in existing natural gas and oil deposits causes lower costs than paying for CO2 emissions.

[...]

Since we, as a large industrial country, will hardly be able to avoid large, almost unavoidable CO2 emissions, for example from the cement industry and steel production, in the coming decades, investigations into the safety of such storage in the German EEZ should be started quickly.

The income from the CO2 price should not only be used for the energy transition, but also for social balance, according to the result of a Kopernikus research project. This is not the first warning to the traffic light government to fulfill its big climate policy promise. Could the introduction of climate money really contribute to more acceptance of climate protection?

Smaller countries like Switzerland show us how this social balance can work. A CO2008 tax has been levied there since 2, which is increased if the national targets are not met. Because the interim target of a 33 percent reduction in fossil fuels compared to 1990 was missed by only 2020 percent in 31, the levy rose from 2022 Swiss francs to 96 in 120.

Two thirds of the levy will be redistributed to the Swiss population and the economy. In 2021, every person living in Switzerland received 87 francs. Because poorer people have small homes and drive no or small cars, they get more back and the much larger emitters with multiple cars and villas pay the bulk of the levy.

In Switzerland, the CO2 tax is levied on fossil fuels such as heating oil or natural gas. As shown, it is automatically increased if the interim targets for reducing CO2 emissions from fossil fuels set out in the applicable CO2 Ordinance are not met.

At the same time, the purchase of electric cars or the replacement of an oil heating system with a heat pump becomes an additional source of income. Let's imitate the Swiss!

The federal government recently passed the "Natural Climate Protection" action program. Functioning ecosystems can take CO2 out of the air and store it, they ensure biological diversity and also serve to prevent the consequences of the climate crisis. What are your hopes for such a program?

This natural climate protection has to be sustained for a long time, which means it only works in countries with a stable government. Anyone who makes the decision today to rewet former wetlands such as moors or to reforest, not only has to maintain this activity for at least decades, but must also be able to make adjustments by systematically observing the successes that are only slowly recognizable.

Because the surfaces have to be larger if a significant effect is to be achieved, this can only be achieved with the largest natural energy source, the sun. It helps convert more CO2 from the atmosphere into biomass in forests, floodplains and bogs, increases the humus content of agricultural soils and stores carbon in durable products such as wooden houses and furniture.

[...]

And what was your surprise of the week?

Next week, on April 15, 2023, the so-called extended operation of the last three nuclear power plants still producing electricity in Germany will end. They delivered about a third less than full power that week, which was about four percent of the electricity requirement.

That's why I could well have imagined that, despite the chancellor's word of power, there would be an orchestrated political action by the pro-nuclear energy advocates this week against the "stupidity" of the German phase-out of nuclear energy use.

I didn't hear anything, but I did find a column in Der Spiegel ("The end of nuclear power is so terribly German stupid") by a self-described right-wing journalist. So, to my surprise, Germany will phase out nuclear energy without a heated political debate.

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Background knowledge

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The map of the nuclear world

CO2 emissions have to go down, no nuclear power is needed for that...

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The internal search for

CO2 emissions | CO2 withdrawal | CO2 price

brought the following results, among others:

January 21, 2023 - The big scam with the CO₂ certificates

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October 28, 2022 - Climate protection: It's not enough

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July 13, 2022 - Conversion of CO2 into a stable form via pyrolysis

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April 16, 2021 - CO2 pricing: High price makes carbon dioxide withdrawals unnecessary

YouTube

Keyword search: CO2 removal CCS

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=CO2-Entnahme CCS

Videos:

euronews - 5:00

CO2 recycling: How Japan turns carbon dioxide into concrete

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Breaking Lab - 14:15 p.m

These 5 technologies make CO2 removal economical!

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SWR documentary - 29:47

How do we get the CO2 out of the air again?

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Playlist - radioactivity worldwide ...

This playlist contains over 150 videos on the topic

Ecosia

This search engine is planting trees!

Keyword search: CO2 removal CCS

https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=CO2-Entnahme CCS

Federal Environment Agency

Greenhouse gas emissions in Germany

Greenhouse gas emissions in Germany increased by 2021 percent in 4,5 compared to the previous year. This corresponds to a reduction of 38,7 percent compared to the international reference year 1990.

emission development

Greenhouse gas emissions have been significantly reduced in Germany since 1990. The total emissions converted into ⁠carbon dioxide equivalents⁠ (excluding carbon dioxide emissions from ⁠land use⁠, ⁠land use change⁠ and forestry) fell by around 2021 million tonnes (million t) or 480% by 38,7. Total emissions of 2021 million t were reported for 762. The emissions thus increase significantly compared to the year 2020, which was characterized by special effects, but are significantly below the emission level of 2019 ...

Wikipedia

CO2 price

A carbon price, also known as a carbon price, is a price that has to be paid for emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2). The carbon price serves to internalize external costs of carbon dioxide release, in particular the consequences of global warming. The carbon price has to be paid for every tonne of CO2 that is to be emitted. It can be implemented as a CO2 tax or as a CO2 emissions trading system. One argument in favor of a CO2 tax is that the amount of the burden can be better controlled by the political bodies. CO2 emissions trading has the advantage that the volume-based CO2 reduction targets can be precisely met. Hybrid solutions are also possible, such as emissions trading with minimum or maximum prices ...

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Newsletter XIV 2023 - April 2st to 8th

Newspaper article 2023

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