Newsletter XXVIII 2023

Everywhere, high temperatures are forcing people and governments to act. In Germany, panel doctors are demanding air conditioning in retirement homes.

The temperatures have so far reached around 35 degrees on Saturday in Berlin - and could even rise a little during the course of the day. From the evening on, the wind will freshen up in some places and it will increase, as the German Weather Service (DWD) announced. According to the DWD, the 35-degree mark was already reached in Cottbus and Potsdam in the afternoon. Almost 37 degrees were even measured near Nauen in Havelland.

[...] As part of an evacuation operation due to a forest fire on the Canary Islands of La Palma, around 500 people had to leave their homes.

[...] From Europe to America to Japan and China: Large parts of the world are suffering from an extreme heat wave. A whole series of high temperatures was expected this weekend. In Italy, the Ministry of Health issued a red alert heat warning for several cities. In Greece, the ancient landmark Acropolis in Athens was closed again on Saturday...

France | EDF | Cattenom

Again problems in Cattenom: Reactor disconnected from the network again

Cattenom / France – Last Wednesday, a problem with a turbine meant that Unit 4 of the French nuclear power plant in Cattenom had to be disconnected from the power grid. The operating company EDF did not provide more detailed information. It was the second breakdown in this reactor within a few weeks. Block 4 had to be taken off the grid a month ago and was reconnected a few days later.

Block 2 is also causing problems. A good week ago on Sunday, Block 2 in Cattenom was supposed to be started up again. According to the EDF, when testing a pump, employees then found that a pressure sensor on a pump was not working properly...

Manhattan project | Robert Oppenheimer | Trinity

"Father of the Atomic Bomb"

Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb: celebrated as a patriot, discredited as a communist

The cinematic life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, unrepentant leader of the US nuclear weapons project, comes to the big screen

On the morning of July 16, 1945, an artificial sun rose over the New Mexico desert in a way the world had never seen before. The gigantic efforts of the USA to develop nuclear weapons reached their provisional climax at 5:29 minutes and 45 seconds: The first atomic bomb in history exploded on a military test site and gave eyewitnesses a radioactive dawn.

"We knew the world would never be the same," J. Robert Oppenheimer later recalled of the historic moment. "A few people laughed, a few people cried, most were silent." Oppenheimer, the scientific director of the US nuclear weapons program known as the Manhattan Project, could be satisfied. The test was a complete success. A 330 meter wide crater in the desert sand and a mushroom cloud that grew twelve kilometers into the sky testified to this...

14 July

Russia | Uranium enrichment | Uranium hexafluoride | Novouralsk | Ural Electrochemical Combine

Accident at Russian uranium enrichment plant, at least one fatality

According to the operator, a container with uranium hexafluoride was leaking

At least one person was killed in an accident at a uranium enrichment plant in Russia on Friday morning (local time). Radiation levels at the factory site in Novouralsk in the Ural region east of Moscow are normal, the RIA news agency reported on Friday. The 65-year-old technician did not die from the effects of radiation, but succumbed to injuries he sustained in the accident.

The operator of the plant, the Urals Electrochemical Combine, said depleted uranium hexafluoride leaked from a cylinder at 9.13:24. The substance is highly toxic, radioactive and easily volatilized. It was not disclosed why the one-cubic-meter cylinder was leaking. According to local media reports, more than a hundred employees of the plant were hospitalized; the majority could be released after being decontaminated. Continuing hospital treatment on Friday evening were XNUMX people....

Renewables | economic wise | power line

Economic wise criticize plans for new nuclear power plants

Monika Schnitzer: Nuclear power is not a permanent solution for Germany.

Monika Schnitzer, the chairwoman of the Economic Wise Men, has rejected the return to nuclear power. “Nuclear power is not a permanent solution for Germany. New nuclear power plants would be an economic mistake,” said the Munich economist to the “Welt” (Friday edition).

Renewable energies are now cheaper than nuclear power

After the costs of wind and solar had fallen sharply, a new nuclear power plant in Germany would now be more expensive than expanding renewable energies. However, it is incomprehensible how badly Germany is prepared for the energy transition. There is still a lot of catching up to do, especially when it comes to expanding the infrastructure, such as power lines between northern and southern Germany...

United States | Fascism | Don Trumpl

Expert on fascism in the USA:

"Trump's violence is about lust"

What has happened in the US since Trump is clearly fascist, says journalist Jeff Sharlet. It wasn't just white people who felt attracted to it.

taz: Mr. Sharlet, for a long time you avoided the term "fascism" and instead spoke of the extreme right to describe the movement you are observing. Why have you changed your mind now?

Jeff Sharlett: Fascism has always been present in the United States. There were elements of fascism, but it failed to become the dominant paradigm. So many communities of people of color in the US have had the experience of living under fascist control. Many sheriffs have ruled with fascist might. But a real fascist government? No, we wouldn't get that, I thought.

Why?

The reason was the same that makes the United States so unusual among industrialized nations: worship of God. And some might ask: oh, isn't this super-Christian nationalist stuff just fascist too? From what I've read, a hallmark of fascism is the cult of personality. This cult of personality isn't just about a figurehead, it's about license. It takes an earthly avatar of absolute power - the superman, if you will - to license all the Hitlers, all the little Trumps. I thought they wouldn't swap the "father" for the "leader." I was wrong.

When did you realize that?

2015, when Trump descended the golden escalator in Trump Tower to announce his presidential candidacy. The reality is that George W. Bush and George HW Bush, who I demonstrated against, were not fascists. They were imperialists. There is more than one kind of evil in the world. But when Trump came down the golden escalator — that was a fascist aesthetic. Up until then in the US, even under Reagan, we didn't really have a personality cult. We had the founders, we had the myth, and we had the power. But we believed in ourselves: a shining city on a hill. Trump's violence is about lust. It is, as I show in The Undertow, a cult of militant eroticism...

Krupp | National Social | Forced labour | Economic elite

Entrepreneur Alfried Krupp

Krupp Foundation has the Nazi past reappraised

For a long time little was known about Alfried Krupp's relationship with the National Socialists. A research project by the Krupp Foundation is now revealing how deeply involved the steel entrepreneur was in National Socialism.

The involvement of the Krupp steel group in the crimes of the National Socialists is widely known today. During the Second World War, the company was not only active as a manufacturer of weapons for the German war of aggression - thousands of forced laborers, including concentration camp prisoners, were also exploited in the Krupp works.

[...] A team led by the Marburg historian Eckart Conze spent more than a year combing through numerous archives. The results of the research have now been presented in Essen.

Good contacts with members of the Nazi regime

The final report shows that Alfried Krupp was a member of several Nazi organizations. In 1931 he became a supporting member of the SS and in 1938 he joined the NSDAP. However, this accession did not take place on their own initiative, but "on Hitler's direct orders," according to the report. However, the fact that Krupp joined the party relatively late does not indicate a skeptical or even negative attitude towards the NSDAP.

On the contrary, the historians found indications that Alfried Krupp maintained good contacts with Armament Minister Albert Speer and other high-ranking members of the Nazi regime. He also expected economic benefits from his support for the National Socialists. Krupp was part of an economic elite "who were willing to exploit German wartime successes and occupation for their own benefit"...

European Union approves Funding for Meyer Burger

Meyer Burger gets 200 million for 3,5 gigawatt project

The solar company Meyer Burger is to receive more than 200 million euros in funding from the European Union for the construction of an additional 3,5 gigawatts of production capacity for solar cells and solar modules. Among other things, the location in Bitterfeld-Wolfen (Saxony-Anhalt) and probably another location in Spain could benefit from the funding, as the company announced on Friday in Hohenstein-Ernstthal on request. In addition, Meyer Burger is currently looking for another location in Germany.

Accordingly, the project is one of the eleven selected candidates for EU funding. According to the EU Commission, a total of 239 projects had applied in all funding segments, 41 of which were successful. In the area of photovoltaic production, the Norwegian company Norsun has also asserted itself with a project to expand wafer production. According to Meyer Burger, the two companies are already in a supply relationship for solar wafers...

United States | China | Taiwan

Fear of invasion by China

US military wants to upgrade Taiwan faster

In view of a possible invasion by China, the US military is demanding that Taiwan's defense capabilities be strengthened quickly. The island needs air defense systems and weapons. The presence of the US Army in the Asia-Pacific region is also to be put to the test.

According to the US military, the US and its allies must speed up the build-up of Taiwan to protect against a possible invasion by China. "I think it's important that Taiwan's military and defense capabilities are improved," Chief of Staff Mark Milley told journalists in Tokyo. The island needs anti-aircraft systems and weapons to attack ships...

heat record | sea temperature | Copernicus

Europe: The heat is just beginning

Heat records from June 2023 will be surpassed in July

The heat records are tumbling: June 2023 was the warmest in the world since weather records began, and ocean temperatures have also reached new record values. But in the coming days it could get even hotter in Europe - with temperatures of almost 50 degrees in the Mediterranean region, as forecast by ESA and the European earth monitoring service Copernicus. July 2023 could therefore break further climate records.

Climate change, an onset of El Niño in the Pacific and regional weather conditions have already set some climate records this year. June 2023 was warmer than ever before, as reported by the European climate monitoring service Copernicus a few days ago. The global monthly average for June 2023 was 0,53 degrees above the long-term average from 1991 to 2020, which was already influenced by climate change. This means that June has now been warmer than this average for 14 years in a row...

July 14, 1955 (INES 3) Sellafield, GBR

A radioactive leak was discovered during clean-up work. (Cost approx. US$2900 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents

This accident as well as several other releases of radioactivity are in Wikipedia no longer to be found.

Wikipedia

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

The complex was made famous by a catastrophic fire in 1957 and by frequent nuclear incidents, which is one of the reasons why it was renamed Sellafield. Until the mid-1980s, large quantities of the nuclear waste generated in daily operations were discharged in liquid form via a pipeline into the Irish Sea ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellafield#Incidents

Radiological releases

Between 1950 and 2000 there were 21 serious off-site incidents or accidents involving radiological releases that warranted classification on the International Nuclear Event Scale, one at Level 5, five at Level 4 and fifteen at Level 3. In addition, there were in intentional releases of plutonium and irradiated uranium oxide particles into the atmosphere known for extended periods in the 1950s and 1960s...

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

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Sellafield (formerly_Windscale), United Kingdom

The operator Sellafield Ltd. admits that parts of the subsurface at Sellafield are contaminated with radioactive substances such as cesium-137, technetium-99, strontium-90, iodine-129, tritium, carbon-14, plutonium and uranium. It is estimated that nine to 13 million cubic meters are affected by the contamination.

"Children and adolescents from Sellafield are ten times more likely to develop blood cancer than the national average. Traces of plutonium and strontium were found in the teeth of adolescents."

There are comparable nuclear factories all over the world:

Uranium enrichment and reprocessing - facilities and sites

During reprocessing, the inventory of spent fuel elements can be separated from one another in a complex chemical process (PUREX). Separated uranium and plutonium can then be reused. As far as the theory...

Youtube

Uranium economy: Facilities for processing uranium

Reprocessing plants turn a few tons of nuclear waste into many tons of nuclear waste

All uranium and plutonium factories produce radioactive nuclear waste: uranium processing, enrichment and reprocessing plants, whether in Hanford, La Hague, Sellafield, Mayak, Tokaimura or anywhere in the world, all have the same problem: With every processing step More and more extremely toxic and highly radioactive waste is being produced ...

13 July

fossil industry invests in offshore Wind power

Oil companies BP and Total Energies are pushing into the electricity business: auctioning off German offshore areas brings in billions

Bonn - The Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has announced the results of the offshore wind energy tenders for areas that have not been centrally pre-examined for the bid deadline of June 1, 2023. The bids go to the British BP and the French Total Energies, two groups from the oil and gas industry. This development is no coincidence.

The Federal Government estimates the expansion target for offshore wind power capacity in Germany for the year 2030 at a total of 30 GW (30.000 MW). In the current round of tenders, the construction of new offshore wind turbines with a capacity of 7.000 MW (7 GW) was awarded. According to the Federal Network Agency, the surprisingly high license revenue of 12,6 billion euros achieved in the course of the tender will also be used to reduce electricity costs...

Japan | tritium water

Release is scheduled to begin in the summer

Fishermen in Fukushima continue to oppose the release of the contaminated water

Even after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published its report, Fukushima fishermen continue to oppose the release of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The IAEA report states that the water discharge plan is in line with international safety standards and will have a negligible radiological impact on humans and the environment.

[...] Despite the IAEA's assessment, local fishermen fear damage to their image will occur, causing sales of their seafood to plummet.

[...] The Japanese government and power plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. promised local fishermen in 2015 that they would not dump the treated water into the sea without the consent of all affected parties. In addition, the government has already announced that it will compensate for possible declines in sales.

However, the Japanese government has now backed down from this and it is very likely that, despite criticism from fishermen, they will start discharging in the foreseeable future.

United States | Cuba | double standards | Guantánamo

What a nuclear submarine off Cuba has to do with the Ukraine war

In the Caribbean, there is a scandal over US-occupied territory. At the same time, the US and NATO are calling on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine. Why does nobody notice the contradiction?

[...] Cuba has been calling for years to close the 121-year-old naval base in the east of the island and the military prison built there by Washington in 2002. Since the end of a hundred-year lease in 2003, the base area has been de facto occupied by the United States. Cuba demands return and compensation.

So the question is how credible the US and NATO demands that Russia evacuate eastern Ukraine. "In accordance with its international obligations, we are calling on Russia to withdraw the armed forces stationed in all three countries," NATO said in mid-2018, referring to Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova. "We strongly condemn Russia's illegal and unlawful annexation of Crimea, which we do not and will not recognize."

And even? Demands for a withdrawal from Cuba, the western Pacific island of Guam and other relevant areas roll off the US government. This became clear in January of last year, when the US occupation of Guantanamo lasted two decades...

Scheuer-Andi | Compensation

Why Ex-Minister Scheuer will hardly pay for the toll damage

Mayors and federal officials are personally liable if they act with gross negligence - federal ministers are not. The Bundestag could change that. There is great anger about the damage caused to taxpayers by the failed car toll.

243 million euros in damages for the toll consortium. taxpayer money. Andreas Scheuer's successor as Federal Minister of Transport, Volker Wissing from the FDP, was visibly upset when the damage became known. In times of tight budgets, Wissing is preparing to scrape together the money in his household. He had previously announced that he would examine whether recourse claims against Scheuer are possible. So whether Scheuer has to pay for what Wissing calls a "serious mistake". According to the ministry, this test is already underway...

Heat | Temperature

Shut out the heat

The federal government is finally launching a heat protection plan. But each and every individual can and should do something to counteract the heat stress in their own four walls.

Germany reacts 20 years late. France launched a national heat protection plan after the devastating heat wave of 2003 to reduce the risk of premature death. At that time, around 70.000 people across Europe had died because of the high temperatures.

Finally, the federal government is also pursuing the goal of better protecting vulnerable groups of people - such as the elderly, the chronically ill, pregnant women - through coordinated measures, as Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) announced.

However, everyone in the country, whether renters or homeowners, should take precautions against the increasing heat stress. There are a number of options here...

Last Generation sticks in Hamburg and Düsseldorf

Hamburg and Düsseldorf "last generation" blocked airports

In Hamburg and Düsseldorf, climate activists have gained access to the runways at the airport and taped them. Emergency services are always on site. Air traffic is currently suspended in Hamburg.

At the start of the holiday season in Hamburg, climate activists of the "last generation" stuck themselves on the runway at Hamburg Airport. Flight operations were interrupted for security reasons because unauthorized persons had gained access to the site, Hamburg Airport announced on Twitter in the morning.

A spokesman for the situation center of the Hamburg police confirmed an operation at the airport. Flight operations have been suspended since 6.10 a.m., the airport said. Takeoffs and landings are currently not possible...

12 July

Agriculture | hunger in Africa | Pesticides

Expert on the UN Hunger Report:

“There is enough to eat there”

According to the latest figures, three quarters of a billion people suffer from malnutrition. Africa must be supported to store food, says an expert.

taz: Mr. Marí, the number of starving people did not increase in 2022 despite the war in Ukraine and the resulting higher grain prices. That's good news, isn't it?

Francisco Mari: This only shows that the effects of the war were not worldwide, but on specific continents. Not all countries are so dependent on wheat from Ukraine. More rice is used in Asian countries. You made progress in the fight against hunger, so the totals balance out. Africa was hit particularly hard. The divergence in the nutritional situation within the world has probably worsened, and we are not back at the level before the pandemic. 735 million starving people are still far too many.

What is the most important measure to bring the numbers down?

Countries threatened by hunger, for example in Africa, could regulate prices and quantities regionally if they store food for times of crisis. If hunger arises in a region due to drought, for example, food could be delivered from silos there or in the neighboring region. The industrialized countries must do more to support African states in setting up such a crisis response mechanism...

Renewables | Power generation | Energy supply

Greener than ever: BILD doesn't want you to find out this truth about our electricity!

Here are some facts that some very powerful people in the country are doing everything they can to hide them from the population: The German electricity mix has never been as green and clean as this summer. Our energy supply has never been as independent and less dependent on imports as it is today. We have never used so little coal power as we do now. And we easily produce more than enough electricity to supply ourselves - which is why we have been exporting more electricity than we have imported this year and have done so for 20 years. And most of the electricity that we are importing net this year comes from Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Yes, that's really true. See for yourself. I'll show you all the numbers and, as always, with links so you can check for yourself:

OUR ELECTRICITY MIX HAS NEVER BEEN AS GREEN AS THIS SUMMER

So far, there have only been 2 months in which the share of renewables has reached the 60% mark: February 2020 (60,8%) and February 2022 (60%). The months of May 2023 and June 2023 now completely overshadow that, with 68,6% and 66,8% they reach unprecedented values...

Conservation Act | EU Parliament | species protection

EU Parliament vote

Narrow majority for EU nature conservation law

The nature conservation law of the EU had been particularly fiercely disputed. In the EU Parliament, the proponents were only just able to assert themselves. However, negotiations with the EU countries still have to take place before the law really comes into force.

With a narrow majority, the EU Parliament voted in favor of a nature conservation law that had previously been the subject of heated debate. The supporters prevailed with 324 to 312 votes, as Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced.

According to the will of the EU Commission, the law should come into force before the European elections next year - but this is not certain yet, even if an important hurdle was cleared with the parliamentary vote...

Climate policy | heat wave | Texas

Despite deadly heat wave: Texas refuses any debate on climate policy

The US state of Texas is suffering from deadly heat waves but refuses to hold a public debate on the climate crisis. The Republican government promotes fossils and even rejects heat adaptation.

Despite the recent deadly heat wave in the southern United States and Mexico, the US state of Texas is staying the course on energy and climate policy: There is still no explicit debate at the state government level about climate change – neither how to prevent it, nor how to prepare for him. While Democrats, scientists and environmentalists have been calling for such a public political dialogue for years, Republicans refuse.

The brutal heat of recent weeks has suggested the Texas government may reconsider its longstanding refusal to directly address the threats of climate change. Newspapers reported how emergency rooms in hospitals were filling up with heat victims and inmates were dying in prisons without air conditioning...

Weapons lobby | military-industrial complex | Arms industry

Ukraine in NATO? How gun lobbyists promote it on Springers Politico

The US magazine Politico, which belongs to the Springer Group, published a letter from experts. They are calling for Ukraine to join NATO and be armed. What is being kept secret.

The NATO summit, which started yesterday and ends today, is an opportunity for Ukraine to push for Alliance membership and expand the military aid it has received from Allies.

In the run-up, Politico published a letter "from 46 foreign policy experts" calling for Ukraine's membership in NATO and the expansion of Western arms supplies to Kiev.

What Politico doesn't say is that nearly half of the signers hold positions in organizations that receive significant financial backing from gun companies, consulting firms, lobbying firms that serve gun industry customers, or gun companies themselves.

[...] In total, 21 of the 46 signatories are affiliated with institutions that have financial ties to the arms industry, an industry likely to benefit from the policy recommendations outlined in a letter focused particularly on the supply of more Western weapons focused on Ukraine, a fact that was not disclosed to readers.

11 July

Raw materials | Rare earth | Manganese | deep seabed mining

Will raw materials be mined from the seabed soon?

In Jamaica, states are negotiating deep-sea mining in international waters. What are the risks, what raw materials are involved and how urgently they are needed.

No laptop, no windmill and no electric car will run without critical metals. One way of extracting them has so far remained almost untouched: deep-sea mining. Five years ago, countries internationally began negotiating rules for mining. A crucial deadline has now passed. About the advantages and disadvantages of deep-sea mining and the question of whether the raw materials are really needed...

anthropocene | Plutonium | Crawford Lake

The Golden Spike in Crawford Lake

A rather inconspicuous lake in Canada is to become the "Golden Spike" and thus mark a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene, the age of man. This is what an international research group proposes.

If you look into the turquoise blue water of Crawford Lake, you can hardly imagine what valuable things are hidden on the lake floor. 60 kilometers from Toronto in the Canadian province of Ontario, the lake may be quite small at 2,5 hectares, but it has one special property: the water on the lake floor does not mix with that on the surface, it is one meromictic waters.

It sounds unspectacular at first, but it isn't. This is because the bottom of the lake remains completely isolated from the rest of the world and is able to tell a story, namely that of our planet and how humanity has rapidly transformed it.

[...] But what can be clearly detected all over the planet: plutonium 239, which is produced during above-ground nuclear tests.

The early nuclear tests in the middle of the 20th century irreversibly contaminated the earth worldwide. Plutonium thus marks the point in the history of the earth when human industrial and socio-economic activities increased at an unprecedented rate, resulting in serious changes to the earth system...

heat record | Florida | sea temperature

Heat records in the Atlantic:

Sea off Florida well over 30 degrees

Unusually high water temperatures are threatening corals off the US coast. Warm seas also increase the risk of heavy rain on land.

BERLIN taz/ap Coastal towns in Florida are struggling with the effects of record-breaking global warming of the oceans. The water temperature is well over 30 degrees Celsius in many places. A buoy from the US weather agency NOAA measured 36,1 degrees on Monday evening (local time) near Johnson Key. Another buoy had registered a temperature of almost 35 degrees near Vaca Key the day before...

Empathy | resilience | authority

»The ones howling with the wolves«

obedience and resilience

A neuropsychiatrist explains why only independent thinking and critical questioning can help to develop resilience against authoritarian structures. a review

[...] Why do some people become followers and accomplices, while others do not? The French neuropsychiatrist Boris Cyrulnik (born 1937) explores this question in his book “Howling with Wolves.” His Jewish parents were murdered in the Holocaust. He himself was threatened with death as a child, but was able to escape. After the war, he also made a disturbing observation that is reminiscent of Arendt's description: German prisoners of war - just deadly enemies - suddenly met the French civilian population in a friendly manner.

In his search for reasons for being a follower and a perpetrator, Cyrulnik starts early in the child's development. He argues that children initially rely on binary categories such as "good or bad" and "right or wrong" to form a worldview. This worldview matures with age. Using the example of the National Socialists Rudolf Höß (camp commandant in Auschwitz), Josef Mengele (camp doctor of Auschwitz) and Adolf Eichmann, he shows how a lack of empathy or the dominance of a respected person can lead to a desire for leading authorities in childhood...

Nature Conservation | Biodiversity

Comparison of strict protection areas

Germany almost brings up the rear in the EU when it comes to nature conservation

The UN Biodiversity Conference decided that 2030 percent of the area should be a nature reserve by 30. But Germany is lagging behind when it comes to particularly strictly protected areas - and is almost at the bottom of the EU table.

According to a study, Germany lags far behind in the designation of strict nature protection areas in a European comparison. According to the University of Bologna, the Federal Republic of Germany is currently in third from last place of the 0,6 EU countries with only 27 percent designated protected area. Only Belgium (0,1 percent) and Denmark (0,2) do worse...

Greenhouse gas | Emission | sulfur oxide

63 cruise ships pollute the air more than all the cars in Europe

Carnival Corporation's cruise ships emit more toxic sulfur oxides than all 291 million cars in Europe combined. The particles cause asthma and acid rain, among other things.

Brussels Belgium). Around 500 large cruise ships and 800 smaller river cruise ships are currently in operation worldwide. A study by Transport and Environment (T&E) shows that Carnival Corporation's 63 cruise ships alone emit 43 percent more sulfur oxides than all 291 million cars in Europe combined. Sulfur oxides in the air can trigger respiratory diseases such as asthma in humans and cause acid rain, which harms the environment.

While the numbers are worrying, there are signs of significant improvement over time. Looking back at data from a few years ago, Carnival Corporation's fleet at anchor in European ports in 2017 emitted ten times the amount of sulfur oxides compared to the continent's entire automobile inventory...

10 July

Hydrogen | hydrogen market | Hydrogen infrastructure

BDEW paper shows adjustment screws for the successful development of a hydrogen market

Berlin - The ramp-up of the hydrogen economy offers enormous opportunities for the energy transition and for Germany as a business location. Targeted development is a prerequisite for a functioning hydrogen market. The Federal Association of the Hydrogen Energy Industry (BDEW) shows what a successful development could look like.

The ramp-up of a hydrogen economy and the use of renewable and decarbonized gases as transformation and growth drivers is gaining momentum worldwide. In Germany, too, the course must be set for a systematic hydrogen ramp-up. The BDEW has now presented a “discussion paper for a market design for hydrogen”, which addresses the main building blocks and adjustment screws for the development of a market in four phases. “The coming years will be decisive in Germany and Europe for the question of whether the hydrogen ramp-up will succeed on a large scale and whether an environment for innovation and investment will be created. We should therefore conduct a European market design debate - similar to electricity and natural gas," said Kerstin Andreae, Chair of the BDEW Executive Board...

Expansion of renewables | Solar systems | electricity import

Why solar is booming and coal power plants are underemployed

More solar systems than ever were connected to the grid in the first half of the year. Meanwhile, gas and coal-fired power plants could easily fill the gaps in domestic supply. But imports seem cheaper.

The expansion of solar energy in Germany is booming, as can be seen from data from the Federal Network Agency, among other things. The expansion of wind energy is also slowly picking up speed again.

This is clearer with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems to see. According to him, new solar systems with an output of around five gigawatts were connected to the grid in the first half of 2023. According to information from the IWR specialist information service, it was even 6,5 gigawatts.

[...] This is all the more remarkable since the Union and the AfD are currently running a campaign that says Germany is dependent on importing French nuclear power. But that is obviously not the case. On the one hand, because renewable energy sources now cover just over half of domestic demand.

And on the other hand, because the net electricity imports, which in fact did take place in May and June, could easily have been offset – if wanted – by letting the coal-fired power plants work more. This is easy to read from the size of the electricity import balance. In May, a good 3000 and in June 3700 net gigawatt hours flowed across the borders into the country. (For classification: That was about eight or ten percent of the monthly domestic requirement.)

As the comparison with the above production figures from the coal-fired power plants shows, this net import could easily have been covered by the coal-fired power plants. Or with the gas power plants, which are used even less...

Water | Hydrogen

Even water is missing: Another Achilles heel of the hydrogen strategy

Especially from southern countries like Spain, so-called green hydrogen is to be produced using renewable energies, but the countries even lack the important raw material water. In addition, there is a missing and very expensive infrastructure and a lousy energy efficiency.

Is it a new boom or is it a new bubble that is inflating around the hydrogen strategy?

[...] The overall question is whether the so-called hydrogen strategy is more of a fairy tale or a mirage from the desert. When it comes to the production of green hydrogen, people like to look south, including the Iberian Peninsula and of course beyond the Strait of Gibraltar to the African continent and the Sahara. The conditions for generating electricity from sun and wind are better there, but a lot of water is also needed to produce hydrogen. This is becoming scarcer due to the climate catastrophe, especially in the south...

July 10, 1991 (INES 3) Bilibino, RUS

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Bilibino (Russia)

According to Green Cross Russia (GCR), the faulty design of the reactors and various leaks in the primary circuit have led to the contamination of the Chukchi region. The immediate area was contaminated with strontium-90, cesium-137 and tritium. Several incidents were reported in 1991, one of which, on July 10, 1991, was classified as INES level 3...

Wikipedia

Nuclear power plant Bilibino

There was a leak as a result of the transfer of liquid high-level radioactive waste to a warehouse. Not only the Akw building and the means of transport were contaminated, but also the premises of the head office.

Nuclear power accidents by country#Russia

July 10, 1985 (Terror) Rainbow Warrior I, Auckland, FRA

Greenpeace

Rainbow Warrior I - the legend

In May 1985, the crew landed on the heavily radiation-contaminated Pacific island of Rongelap. Their residents had asked Greenpeace for help. The Rainbow Warrior takes around 300 people on board and relocates them to another island.

A few weeks later there was a scandal. The Greenpeace flagship anchored in the port of Auckland in New Zealand after its South Seas mission. On July 10, 1985, two bombs detonated on the ship's hull, tearing a huge hole in the ship's side. The Rainbow Warrior sinks immediately. The crew escapes to shore, Greenpeace photographer Fernando Perreira dies...

The assassination of the Rainbow Warrior

Terror against peaceful anti-nuclear protest: In July 1985, an explosion rips apart the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in the port of Auckland, New Zealand. The trail leads to the French secret service...

Wikipedia

Sinking the Rainbow Warrior

The Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior was sunk on July 10, 1985 by French Service Action agents in Auckland, New Zealand.

Dubbed "Operation Satanique" by the French secret service, the operation was financed from the "fonds speciaux", a sort of official "black box" that only the President of the Republic can access...

9 July

MIC | Think Tank | tactical nuclear weapons | Ukraine

US think tank proposes tactical nuclear weapons to Ukraine

That will deter Russia from using nuclear weapons, says the American Enterprise Institute, which is co-financed by armaments companies.

The American Enterprise Institute AEI proposed on June 9, 2023 that the US should provide Ukraine with tactical nuclear weapons to deter Russia from using tactical nuclear weapons of its own. However, the Quincy Institute in Washington warns that this could "easily escalate into all-out nuclear war."

Many think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) disclose their sponsors in a non-transparent way. They call themselves "independent" but shy away from transparency. The AEI is funded by corporations and foundations, some of which receive money from the military-industrial complex. It is therefore not surprising that the AEI proposed making tactical nuclear weapons available to Ukraine. Prominent member of the AEI is the neocon Richard Perle...

China | world order | multipolar world

This is how China is changing the world order

New concept to secure multipolar system. But there is resistance. Why all this is part of the reorganization of the world.

In recent years, the People's Republic of China has launched three global initiatives: the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) and the Global Security Initiative (GSI). These are intended to provide a framework for practical steps towards a multipolar world. They should also underpin this process politically and culturally.

The Global Security Initiative and a security strategy are particularly important for the development of a multipolar world, which helps to keep the frictional losses in the forthcoming overthrow of the global balance of power towards a multilateral world as low as possible and, above all, to prevent further wars in this way. .

Ukrainians will be the victims | cluster munitions

"Biggest Danger for Many Years"

Cambodia warns Ukraine about cluster munitions

During the Vietnam War, the US dropped millions of cluster bombs on Cambodia and Laos. Tens of thousands were killed or maimed. More than half a century later, cluster munitions are still active in the country, says Cambodia's head of government and appeals to Kiev.

Cambodia, from its own painful experience, has warned Ukraine against using cluster munitions. "It would be the greatest danger to Ukrainians for many years or up to a hundred years if cluster bombs were used in the Russian-held areas of Ukraine's territory," Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen tweeted.

FDP against heating law and European climate laws

Kulturkampf about heating, solar parks with storage and the erring FDP

Additional support for households without assets is necessary for the funding rules for heating replacement, says Matthias Willenbacher, Managing Director of the sustainable investing platform Wiwin and member of the Climate Reporter° Editors' Council. He is outraged that the FDP now also wants to overturn EU climate laws.

Klimareporter°: Mr. Willenbacher, after the Federal Constitutional Court stopped the Building Energy Act, the controversial bill is now to be passed after the summer break. Why has the so-called heating law become an almost never-ending story? What went wrong?

Matthew Willenbacher: First of all, you have to realize that practically nothing happened in the heat sector in the 16 years under Angela Merkel. While the share of renewable energies in gross electricity consumption quadrupled between 2005 and 2021 – from ten to 41 percent – in the heating sector it only doubled from eight to 16 percent.

Merkel and the entire Union did not want to expect any changes from the citizens here either. It is now apparent that the longer one waits, the more drastic the changes will have to be.

The Federal Ministry of Economics, headed by Robert Habeck, has certainly made some communication and technical errors with the Building Energy Act. In any case, the biggest was that the funding program was presented far too late, so that for a long time it was unclear to the homeowners what to expect financially.

The FDP, the Union and the Springer press have mercilessly exploited these mistakes and, with false claims, stylized the building energy law into a culture war and emotionally negatively charged the topic. That was fatal...


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Ukraine buys two old Russian reactors from the 1980s from Bulgaria?

Bulgaria wants to sell Russian reactors to Ukraine

During Zelenskiy's visit to Sofia, Ukraine was promised old weapons as military aid, and a deal was arranged with two uncompleted reactors from the Belene nuclear power plant.

The Ukrainian President Selenskiy surprisingly traveled to Bulgaria on Friday. The new Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov promised Ukraine that he would supply weapons and ammunition in addition to other support such as NATO membership, but the fighting capability of the Bulgarian army should remain secured. That is why Bulgaria will not deliver the weapons demanded by Zelensky. Like other states, old ammunition is being delivered that is approaching its expiry date. Denkov also says quite bluntly that millions are saved because the ammunition does not have to be disposed of in Bulgaria, and the warehouses that are freed up can be filled with newly manufactured products.

But another agreement on intensifying arms aid is also interesting. We want to strengthen the overall cooperation. This applies in particular to the energy sector. The energy ministers of both countries have signed a memorandum of understanding. It is about the Belene nuclear power plant, the construction of which began in 1987. Due to lack of funds, construction was stopped in 1990. In 2005 it was decided to continue construction, and in 2006 the Russian company Atomstroyexport was awarded the contract. The further construction was discussed again and again, at times RWE was interested, but soon got out again. Russia had offered a $2 billion bridging loan, but the Bulgarian government insisted on finding a Western European investor first.

Two reactors of the Russian type VVER-1000 were planned. In 2012 the work was stopped again. 1,5 billion US dollars had been invested and the completion would cost over 8 billion. With the war against Ukraine and the sanctions, the project finally died. There were brief negotiations with the French nuclear company EDF at the beginning of 2023. The government coalition that has been in office since June finally came up with the idea of selling the reactors to Ukraine, which relies heavily on nuclear energy. The price is a question of negotiations, but what the reactors have cost Bulgaria so far, namely 1,2 billion leva (about 600 million euros), must be paid in any case.

The business idea of selling Russian nuclear technology to the Ukraine is justified by the fact that the Ukraine needs exactly this in order to be able to complete the two VVER-1000 reactors in the Khmelnytskyi nuclear plant. This project also dates back to the 1980s and was then shut down. In 2011, further construction was agreed with Russia, but this was ended in 2015. In 2021 there was a contract with Westinghouse to finish building the reactors, but this was not done. Instead, Westinghouse will build a new reactor at Kozloduy NPP and supply fuel rods for a Russian reactor still in operation there. So now Ukraine, which of course cannot buy equipment from Russia, is supposed to take over the Russian technology from Bulgaria. According to a spokesman for the EU Commission, there are no objections to the deal: "Ukraine can use EU funds to buy nuclear reactors from Bulgaria, as this would help strengthen the Ukrainian economy," he said...


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Background knowledge

The map of the nuclear world

This can only be a Monty Python film:
Ukraine buys Russian reactors from Bulgaria with EU money...

The internal search for

Khmelnytsky | Ukraine | Bulgaria

brought the following results, among others:

February 21, 2022 - Construction of Russian nuclear power plant splits Bulgaria

November 24, 2021 - New nuclear reactors in Ukraine: Energy for a bright future

April 25, 2021 - MiK gears up for important battles to come

YouTube

Keyword search: Akw Khmelnytskyi

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Akw Chmelnyzkyj

A surreal experience!

If you search for the topic "Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant in Ukraine" on YouTube, the Springer group floods the Internet with war jubilation videos from "Bild" and "Welt". But it is almost exclusively about the alleged imminent attack, by whomsoever, on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and the stories about the war hero and President Zelensky. Not much can be found about the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant. When searching for the keyword "Khmelnitsky", the first entry was an ad for a holiday home with a pool near Khmelnitsky: "Book now Khmelnitsky! eg with WLAN, pool, air conditioning, TV, terrace or on the water..." .

Videos:

Wetteradler from May 25, 2023 - 06:44

Radioactivity after the detonation of an ammunition depot near Khmelnytskyi in the Ukraine

Windy desktop app: https://www.windy.com/pois?49.942,13.022,3

Playlist - radioactivity worldwide ...

This playlist contains over 150 videos on the topic

The search engine Ecosia is planting trees!

Keyword search: Akw Khmelnytskyi

https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=Akw Chmelnyzkyj

tagesschau

"Decay of safety culture"

Shelling of a nuclear power plant, attacks on the power grid, threats to nuclear power plant employees. How safe is nuclear power in Ukraine and what would be the consequences of an accident?

Normally, nuclear power plants in Ukraine have strict safety precautions - but since the beginning of the war it has been difficult to maintain them. "I could never have imagined the safety culture falling to such a low level," says Petro Kotin, head of state-owned Energoatom, which operates the nuclear power plants in Ukraine. "We had six power outages in the largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine and also in Europe."

It is the Zaporizhia NPP. On March 3, 2022 - shortly after the Russian attack on Ukraine - the power plant and the neighboring town of Enerhodar were stormed by the Russian military. "They first drove into the city with their tanks. They fired from tanks, but we didn't have anything, just normal rifles," says Aleksandr Pintielin, who worked at the nuclear power plant at the time. Russian soldiers occupied the nuclear power plant with its 11.000 employees. The front line along the Dnieper River still runs very close by today ...

Wikipedia

Russian invasion of Ukraine 2022

In an air strike during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces on November 15, the (Khmelnytskyi) Nuclear Power Plant lost its grid connection due to damage to a high-voltage power line. The units had to be shut down quickly and could only be powered by emergency generators for nine hours. Another target of the Russian attacks was probably a substation not far from the border with Poland, over which one of the lines runs that connects the Ukrainian power grid with that in Western Europe.

Due to the massive power outages, the emergency system of the three nuclear power plants Rivne, Pivdennoukrainsk and Khmelnytskyi was activated, the state operator Energoatom announced in the online service Telegram. As a result, all reactors were automatically disconnected from the power grid. According to Energoatom, the radiation levels in the facilities and their surroundings remained unchanged. As soon as the power grid has returned to normal, the three nuclear power plants would go back online.

In January 2023, the IAEA decided to have its own expert teams present at all Ukrainian nuclear power plants in order to reduce the risk of serious accidents during the war.

Nuclear power plants in Ukraine

The grouping of nuclear power plants includes all power reactors and prototype plants that are used for commercial power generation.

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