The THTR Circular

Newsletter XVIII 2024

April 21th to ...

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The PDF file "Nuclear Power Accidents" contains a number of other incidents from various areas of the nuclear industry. Some of the events were never published through official channels, so this information could only be made available to the public in a roundabout way. The list of incidents in the PDF file is therefore not 100 % identical with "INES and the disturbances in nuclear facilities", but represents an addition.

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

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

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

8 April 1968 (Broken Arrow) Submarine K-129 sunk 2900 km nw Hawaii, 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 USS Thresher Submarine SSN-593 sunk 350 km off Cape Cod, USA

April 11-12, 1970 (Broken Arrow) Submarine K-8 sunk in Bay of Biscay, USSR

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

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

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

28 April 2011 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Asco, ESP

We are always looking for up-to-date information. Anyone who can help, please send a message to:
nuclear-world@reaktorpleite.de

24. April

Electromobility | E-car

IEA: Global electric car fleet will grow strongly in 2023 - further growth in 2024

Paris - The International Energy Agency (IEA) has presented an update of its report on the global development of electromobility. Expansion around the globe increased significantly in 2023 and reached a new record level. Although there are currently disruptive factors, the agency expects the sector to continue to grow strongly, with core markets in China, the USA and Europe.

In its new edition of the annual Global EV Outlook, the IEA predicts that more than one in five cars sold worldwide in 2024 will be electric. Despite short-term challenges in some markets, under the current policy environment, by 2030, almost one in three cars on the road in China will be electric, and almost one in five in the United States and the European Union. Rising demand forecast over the next decade will transform the global auto industry and significantly reduce oil consumption in road transport.

The electromobility industry will have a record-breaking year in 2023

According to the electromobility report published by the IEA, the industry recorded a record-breaking year in 2023. Overall, global sales of electric cars have increased by 35 percent to almost 14 million vehicles...

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Annual report | Amnesty International | Double standards

Amnesty International annual report:

Amnesty criticizes double standards

Human rights organization accuses the federal government of remaining silent about war crimes committed by Israel's army. This weakens the international order.

BERLIN taz | Amnesty International has heavily criticized the German government for its stance in the Gaza war. Presenting the organization's annual report, Julia Duchrow, secretary general of Amnesty International (ai) in Germany, said the government was contributing to the "erosion of the international order" by remaining silent about the Israeli army's war crimes.

“She is losing her credibility,” says Duchrow. “Double standards are not compatible with the human rights-based foreign policy that Annalena Baerbock has announced.” Amnesty has been sharply criticizing the Israeli government for years, including over its settlement policy.

Hamas and other armed groups committed war crimes with their brutal attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Duchrow said on Tuesday. “Nothing can put the victims’ suffering into perspective.”

However, the military operation of the Israeli armed forces in the Gaza Strip has “lost all measure”. It involves numerous war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.

[...] Setbacks also in the fight for gender equality

2023 will be marked by setbacks in the fight for gender equality and the rights of LGBTI+ people, for example through new abortion bans in the USA or new threats of punishment for homosexuals, for example in Uganda.

The so-called human rights defenders, such as trade unionists, environmental activists and indigenous groups, have also come under further pressure. Many governments have restricted freedom of expression or assembly in 2023, and violence against protesters, for example with weapons and ammunition such as rubber bullets or stun grenades, has “led to thousands of injuries, permanent disabilities and numerous deaths worldwide,” said Duchrow...

23. April

Great Britain | Nuclear waste | Repository Drigg south of Sellafield

British nuclear waste storage facility is said to have violated environmental regulations

The UK Environment Agency (EA) has written to the Drigg low-level waste repository (LLWR) in Cumbria expressing concern about delays in securing waste at the site, the BBC reports. Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), the operator of Drigg, said the delays had no impact on the surrounding area and that it had taken the time to ensure the right solutions were found to safely dispose of nuclear waste.

The letter, written by the EA in January and obtained by the BBC through a Freedom of Information request, sets out new conditions that LLWR must comply with. LLWR had failed to make sufficient progress on measures to secure the radioactive waste through a process known as sealing, thereby violating the terms of its environmental permit.

Martin Walkingshaw, Chief Operating Officer of the NWS, said: “The placement of the technical cap over the old radioactive waste repositories at the UK LLWR is a first for the UK.” He confirmed that the NWS and the EA are discussing progress.

“Covering is an important part of disposal and we are currently implementing the required design by sourcing, importing and storing thousands of tonnes of covering material, in accordance with our planning conditions and strict quality requirements,” he said.

The EA also told the LLWR that it had failed to meet a deadline for a previously imposed improvement condition, which related to the requirement for a written plan to protect waste in certain areas, including coverage of any of those areas. Although the plan was presented, there were delays in its implementation. The original completion date was 2028, but discussions are now underway to extend the deadline as LLWR believes more time is needed...

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

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Russia | Flooding | Uranium mine Dobrovolnoye sw Kurgan

Russian flood region is threatened with radioactive contamination

Melting snow and rain have been flooding numerous Russian regions for two weeks. River levels are reaching record levels in no time. But the big catastrophe could still follow in Siberia. According to reports, uranium is at risk of ending up in rivers there.

According to reports, the floods could be followed by an even greater catastrophe in the Russian regions of Tyumen and Kurgan: the contamination of rivers with uranium. Russia has been struggling with severe flooding for two weeks now, initially in the region around the city of Orenburg, and later also in the Siberian regions of Kurgan and Tyumen. As a result of the melting snow and extensive rainfall, the levels of some rivers rose massively, sometimes reaching record levels. Russian media spoke of a “flood of the century of apocalyptic proportions.” Several thousand houses were under water and many thousands of people fled or had to be evacuated.

[...] water threatens to flood uranium mines in the region. There is a risk that a river will become radioactively contaminated.

Agentstwo based its report on a map released by authorities on April 11, the Moscow Times reports. There, the Sverinogolovsky district is marked as a flood zone. There is a uranium mine called Dobrovolnoye in this district. It is therefore operated by companies that belong to the state atomic energy authority Rosatom. Alexei Shvarts, former head of Alexei Navalny's regional office in Kurgan, explained that there are hundreds or thousands of drill holes in the deposit. He suspects that as a result of the floods, radioactive substances could leak out and enter the Tobol River. Since many hundreds of thousands of people live along the river, the effects could be devastating...

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Subsidies | Transport transition | CO2 price

Ariadne analysis

The state prevents the CO₂ price from having an effect

Climate-damaging subsidies in transport completely undermine CO2 pricing, shows a study for the Federal Research Ministry. There is a reward of up to 690 euros for one ton of CO2 emitted.

Since 2021, a CO2 price has also been charged for fuel, which is gradually increasing. The last Merkel federal government introduced it in order to achieve greater cost accuracy in transport. The surcharge is currently 45 euros per ton of greenhouse gas emitted.

A new study financed by the Federal Ministry of Research now shows that the subsidies paid for transport, such as diesel or company car privileges, completely cancel out the effect of this CO2 pricing and even have the opposite effect.

The subsidies essentially mean “negative CO2 prices” of between minus 70 and minus 690 euros per ton of CO2.

[...] The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) is also in favor of reducing environmentally and climate-damaging subsidies, including in the transport sector. During the recent budget crisis, the authority made concrete suggestions regarding diesel privileges and commuter allowances.

UBA President Dirk Messner calculated that six billion euros could be saved with the diesel privilege, namely 8,2 billion of the total subsidy less compensation for the higher vehicle tax paid by diesel drivers.

Regarding the distance allowance, which costs the state six billion euros annually, Messner suggested that in the future it should only be paid to the bottom 30 percent of income earners, which would result in savings of around four billion.

However, these suggestions from the federal authority were not taken up by Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and the traffic light government as a whole.

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Human right | Asylum

Asylum law:

British Parliament passes controversial Rwanda law

Migrants who arrive in Great Britain by boat may in future be deported to Rwanda. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hopes for the first deportation flights in ten weeks.

Great Britain will be able to deport irregular migrants to Rwanda in the future. Parliament in London passed a corresponding law after a long debate. The controversial regulation declares Rwanda a safe third country and is intended to prevent objections to deportations.

The bill had been pushed back and forth between the two chambers of Parliament for over two months. The upper house tabled several amendments, which in turn were rejected by the lower house. The upper house also approved the bill that night. Now King Charles III still has to. bring the law into force with his signature.

[...] The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) had so far stopped the project by means of an interim injunction. In the future, Sunak wants to ignore objections from the Court of Justice - and still does not see his country violating European law because of the new law.

But the Supreme Court in London had also declared the project illegal because it did not consider Rwanda a safe third country. The court argued that it could not be guaranteed that people there would receive a fair asylum procedure. It cited reports from the UN refugee agency and previous British information about extrajudicial executions, deaths in custody, torture and a high level of rejection of asylum applications from conflict areas such as Syria.

[...] There are also calls for a Rwanda model in Germany - they come primarily from the Union and the FDP. The Greens reject the demands, and the SPD is also skeptical. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the heads of government of the federal states agreed in November that the federal government would examine whether asylum procedures were possible outside of Europe. A result should be available by June. What has so far been controversial is whether this could actually be about sending people from Germany to another country for their asylum procedure - or just about enabling them to undergo an asylum procedure there on their way to Europe. 

22. April

Propaganda | Gaza | UNRWA

Organization in the Gaza Strip

Report finds no evidence of many Hamas supporters at UN Palestinian Relief Agency

Israel accuses the UN Palestinian Relief Agency of employing hundreds of Hamas members. A study cannot find any evidence of this. However, she criticizes weaknesses in maintaining the neutrality of the organization. 

An investigation has found no evidence to support Israel's claim that there are many supporters of terrorist organizations among the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Israel was unable to provide any evidence of this. This emerges from a report, which is reported by several media outlets. Israel said in March that more than 450 UNRWA employees were agents of terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip. Israel had already claimed in February that twelve UNRWA employees were involved in the attacks on Israel on October 7th. A UN investigation into this is currently ongoing.

Following the allegations, numerous countries interrupted or suspended payments worth millions to UNRWA. This has severely affected the aid organization, which is also fighting the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. UN Secretary General António Guterres called on all countries on Monday to continue to actively support the aid organization. It is vital for the refugees...

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Skandal | Justice | Cum Ex

Tax scandal Cum-Ex

Chief investigator unexpectedly quits and criticizes

Their investigations led to the first verdicts in the Cum-Ex tax scandal and left Chancellor Scholz in need of an explanation: According to WDR information, Anne Brorhilker is leaving the judiciary to fight against financial crime elsewhere.

According to information from WDR-Investigativ, Germany's most important cum-ex investigator is leaving the judiciary. Anne Brorhilker then submitted a “request for dismissal from civil service” to the public prosecutor’s office on Monday morning. The 50-year-old senior public prosecutor heads the main department set up specifically for Germany's largest tax scandal, which is currently investigating more than 1.700 suspects.

The cum-ex transactions are said to have cost taxpayers an estimated twelve billion euros. Bankers, consultants and stock traders were reimbursed for taxes that no one had ever paid - a dig into the state treasury.

Investigations for twelve years

Brorhilker has been investigating cum-ex cases since 2012. With her team, she managed to get key witnesses who revealed the hidden deals for the first time. Her indictment led to the first final verdict in 2019. Investigators later brought “Mr. Cum-Ex” Hanno Berger, who once fled to Switzerland, to court in Germany. The tax lawyer was finally sentenced to eight years in prison before the Bonn regional court.

Brorhilker's investigations also received public attention because they reached high politics. The findings surrounding the Hamburg private bank MM Warburg ultimately also put Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz in need of an explanation, although there is no initial suspicion against him.

“Weak judiciary”

In an interview with WDR Investigative said Brorhilker about her decision: "I have always been a prosecutor with heart and soul, especially in the area of ​​economic crime, but I am not at all satisfied with the way financial crime is prosecuted in Germany. It often involves perpetrators with a lot of money and good contacts, and they encounter a weak judiciary." In addition, defendants could often simply buy their way out of proceedings if, for example, proceedings were dropped in return for a fine. "Then we have the conclusion: You hang the little ones, you let the big ones go." As an individual prosecutor, there is little you can do to change this.

According to Brorhilker's conclusion, politicians have still not reacted adequately eleven years after the first cum-ex cases became known. Tax theft has not stopped by a long shot; there are successor models, like a “hare and hedgehog game”. The reason is a lack of controls over what is happening at banks and on the stock markets. "If there is no control by state organs, then people grab the displays. But if there is a video camera installed above the display, then you think three times about whether to access them."...

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Ukraine | Fuel assemblies | Westinghouse | Energoatom | Khmelnitsky NPP

With support from US companies:

Ukraine is relying on new nuclear power plants

Several new reactors – Ukraine is expanding its nuclear economy. Support comes from two US companies. But there are concerns.

MÖNCHENGLADBACH taz | Ukraine wants to massively expand nuclear energy. The US companies Holtec and Westinghouse will be supporting her as partners. Last week, the head of the Ukrainian nuclear company Energoatom, Petro Kotin, and the chairman of the nuclear power plant operator Holtec, Kris Singh, signed a framework agreement on the transfer of Holtec technology to produce components for “small modular reactors” in Ukraine.

An example of a mini-nuclear power plant is the floating nuclear power plant “Akademik Lomonosov”., which has been supplying the Siberian port city of Pevek and neighboring mines with electricity and heat since May 2020. Furthermore, in this agreement, Energoatom and Holtec agreed to build a Ukrainian production facility for components of the dry storage facility for spent nuclear fuel.

[...] The US company wants to build a total of nine nuclear reactors in Ukraine, explained US Ambassador Brink. Two of them are also to be built in Khmelnitsky. With the completion of the planned four additional reactors with six reactors, the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant would be the largest nuclear power plant in Europe...

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Armaments | Sipri | Military spending

Stockholm Peace Research Institute

Military spending is at a new high worldwide

For the ninth time in a row, defense spending is rising worldwide - this time particularly sharply, according to the Sipri peace institute. However, the reason for this is not just the war in Ukraine.

Behind the abbreviation Sipri there is the optimistic wording International Peace Research Institute Stockholm. But the researchers at Sipri have had little to say about peace for years - this is also the case in the latest report released on Monday. For the ninth time in a row, global military spending has exceeded last year's spending. The numbers are reaching a new high.

Accordingly, spending in 2023 rose by 6,8 percent, adjusted for inflation 2.443.000.000.000 US dollars (2,4 trillion US dollars or around 2,28 trillion euros) – the largest year-on-year increase since 2009. In 2022 it was still 2,24 trillion dollars (around 2,04 trillion euros). The ten largest donors have all significantly increased their spending.

The USA remains undefeated at the top. At 916 billion US dollars (almost 859 billion euros), they alone accounted for more than a third (37 percent) of global military spending - around three times as much as second-placed China with an estimated 296 billion dollars...

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Chemicals | Pesticides | Brain development

Study warns: Common environmental chemicals appear to be damaging brain development

Chemicals found in disinfectants and flame retardants affect brain performance. They are probably responsible for motor disorders in children.

Certain chemicals found in disinfectants and flame retardants have a toxic effect on oligodendrocytes, so-called helper cells of neurons. This is the conclusion reached by a recent study published in the journal “Nature Neuroscience”.

Chemicals in disinfectants and flame retardants damage brain cells

Oligodendrocytes are glial cells in the central nervous system. They wrap around the central nervous system and enable the brain to think at high speeds. They also supply the neurons with energy and play a key role in the transmission of electrical signals.

A US research team examined the effects of 1.823 chemicals on mouse oligodendrocytes in cell culture dishes. Result: 292 of the chemicals killed the cells, 47 more inhibited their formation, and 22 promoted oligodendrocyte generation.

Toxic chemicals and their potential effects on children

The substances could cause children to develop motor disorders and require special education. The cells develop throughout life, but the critical period is from the prenatal stage to the third year of life, the scientists write. The results are supported by follow-up studies in mice and cultured human oligodendrocytes...

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Climate protection | Fossil | Oil production stop

These oil reserves must remain unused

World map shows the location of oil reserves that should no longer be mined and burned

Hands off: If climate protection is to work, humanity must leave part of the world's oil and gas reserves unused in the ground. But which? A new atlas of “unburnable oil” now shows this for petroleum reserves. In it, researchers classified the existing oil reserves according to how much their exploitation would damage nature and the population living in these areas. They also determine how much petroleum we are actually allowed to burn.

In order to stop or at least limit climate change, humanity must only emit a limited amount of greenhouse gases. According to the current world climate report, this CO2 budget is 67 gigatons of CO1.150 for a 2 percent chance of achieving the two-degree climate target, and 1,5 gigatons for the 400-degree target. But this also means that humanity is no longer allowed to mine and use the majority of fossil fuels such as crude oil, coal or natural gas.

Where does the oil tap have to stay?

Specifically, this means: “For the 1,5 degree target, 97 percent of the existing coal deposits, 81 percent of the conventional natural gas deposits and 71 percent of the conventional petroleum deposits would have to remain unburned,” report Lorenzo Pellegrini from Erasmus University Rotterdam and his colleagues. These fossil reserves, which have already been explored, correspond to emissions of almost 11.000 gigatons of CO2. For crude oil, around 1,5 gigabarrels of conventional reserves would have to remain unburned to meet the 1.524 degree target.

But which of these deposits are still allowed to be exploited and which are not? “The allocation of the fossil resources remaining to be mined is a morally and politically controversial issue,” the researchers state. Countries with rich oil or gas reserves will not voluntarily leave their resources unused. Therefore, objective criteria that specify priorities for the mining that is still permitted and the mining quantities are necessary, according to the team. This could then lead to an international system that regulates compensation...

21. April

China | Electric car | Automotive industry | Import duties

Dispute over import tariffs

Bring on the cheap Chinese e-mobiles!

Volker Wissing, the Mercedes boss and the automobile industry association agree: Everyone rejects import tariffs on Chinese electric cars. Partly for the wrong reasons – but rightly so!

Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) usually comes off rather poorly in this column (for example last week). The same applies to the German automotive industry: it has overlooked the electric car for too long, its lobbying efforts in favor of combustion engines and against pollution limits make it just as unsympathetic as the insufficiently processed diesel scandal surrounding technical fraud systems.

However, on an important current controversial issue, both Volker Wissing and the Association of the German Automotive Industry (VDA) are, for once, correct: Both the Transport Minister and the VDA fundamentally reject punitive tariffs for Chinese electric cars. VDA association leader Hildegard Müller (once a close confidant of Angela Merkel), explained a week ago, Countermeasures such as additional tariffs would not solve the challenges facing the European auto industry.

[...] Creative names, international connections

So the minister is probably not in favor of cheap electric cars from China, not least out of fear of penalties for doing nothing. The automotive industry, in turn, is primarily concerned about retaliatory tariffs against import tariffs. Mercedes is probably also because the group is 20 percent owned by the Chinese companies Geely and BAIC. The latter is easily confused with SAIC, with which VW runs a joint venture. Both companies are creatively called “Automobile Industry Corporation”. B in BAIC stands for “Bejing”, the S in SAIC for “Shanghai.” Germany's auto industry has long been intertwined with China's.

It is in the general interest to have electric cars that are as cheap as possible and therefore no import duties if possible, but for a much more important reason: Any car that is replaced by an electric car, is another step towards a world in which fossil fuels no longer play a role. The oil companies and the petrostates would undoubtedly find even higher import tariffs for Chinese electric cars fantastic - because they inhibit competition and thus increase prices. And if people continue to drive combustion engines, they will continue to buy expensive, climate-damaging fuel.

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Jülich | nuclear transports | Ahaus interim storage facility

Ahaus: Demo against planned Castor transports

An alliance of citizens and organizations wants to prevent the planned transport of nuclear waste from Jülich to the Ahaus interim storage facility. They fear that the responsible federal office could soon grant approval.

The citizens' initiative "No Nuclear waste" in Ahaus called for a protest on Sunday. Around 100 people followed. With large banners and decisive words they wanted to show: "Not with us!". It's about 152 Castor containers that are still stored at the Jülich experimental reactor.

Build an interim storage facility in Jülich?

Representatives of the large churches and the North Rhine-Westphalia regional association of BUND took part in the rally at the “Mahner”, a central square in Ahaus. They also consider the planned transports to be too dangerous - and unnecessary. In their view, an interim storage facility in Jülich would be the best solution.

[...] Repository question open

Fuel elements may be stored in the interim storage facility in Ahaus until 2036. By then it should actually be clear where a final storage facility for nuclear waste can be built in Germany. But the responsible federal company has so far made little progress on this issue. The search for a final storage facility will probably take longer than the law requires.

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Neo-Nazi | arson attack | Obstruction of punishment

Right-wing terror: A cold case with ten deaths and the call for clarification

A neo-Nazi confessed to the Lübeck arson attack in 1996. Survivors gave information. However, a roommate was suspected. Will there be a new investigation soon?

"These people are still at large," says Esperanca Bunga. She is one of the survivors of an attack that was most likely carried out by neo-Nazis and was never solved.

Racism as a likely motive

Ten people with a migrant background died after an arson attack on January 18, 1996 at Hafenstrasse 96 in Lübeck. To date, no one has been convicted of this murder. A “cold case” with ten deaths – still unsolved to this day.

For this, Safwan Eid, a roommate of the victims from Lebanon, was charged as an alleged arsonist, was held in custody and was acquitted twice.

His dedicated lawyer Gabriele Heinecke also made sure of this. Along with Esperanca Bunga, she is also one of the most important protagonists of the research project "Hafenstrasse", which is currently being shown at the Theater Lübeck.

[...] Disturbing police behavior: obstruction of punishment in office?

There is even talk of thwarting of punishment in office by the Lübeck police and judiciary. Three neo-Nazis with burn marks on their faces were found near the scene of the fire on the night of the crime and were arrested at short notice. But a short time later they were released again. After all, one of the residents was supposed to be the arsonist.

After Safwan Eid was acquitted, no further charges were brought, although two of the neo-Nazis even confessed to the crime. One of them even repeated his statement to the police. But that didn't lead to charges. Because the police officers are said to have successfully convinced the young right-winger to withdraw his statement...

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United States | Drinking water | PFAS

USA decides on strict PFAS maximum values ​​for drinking water

After 23 years of legal and political tug-of-war, this brings about the strictest possible regulation of toxic chemicals.

The USA set nationwide PFAS limits for drinking water for the first time in April. A long-awaited breakthrough considered historic by many experts and environmental organizations.

The new drinking water limits are intended to protect millions from toxic fluorochemicals.

PFAS is currently found in about half of US drinking water; the “forever chemicals” are in the blood of almost all residents. The new regulation applies to five PFAS chemicals. It is stricter than the laws in the EU and Switzerland that currently apply or will soon come into force.

After 23 years, a long battle over the regulation of PFAS in the USA is coming to an end. US Attorney Rob Bilott discovered the toxicity of PFAS by accident in 1999, when a family friend asked him for help with an unexplained cattle disease. He had no idea that it would become a life's work.

Two years later, on March 6, 2001, Bilott wrote a now famous letter to the chemical company DuPont in which he first pointed out the dangers of the chemical PFOA that the company used in Virginia...

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

 11 people were exposed to radiation and became ill, one of the workers died 12 days later.
(Costs ?)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Over the years, some 235 radioactive incidents have occurred at Mayak, only a few of which became known before 1989...

Wikipedia de

April 21, 1957: Criticality accident in container with highly enriched uranium

Too much uranium solution had collected in a container in a glove box, making it critical. The container then burst open and parts of the solution ran into the glove box. One worker received a radiation dose of 30 to 46 Gray and died 12 days later. Five other workers in the same room were exposed to over 3 Grays each and subsequently became radiation sick. Five other people received doses of up to 1 Gray.
 

Wikipedia en

Major accidents at Mayak, 1953–1998

April 21, 1957 - Criticality accident. An operator dies from a radiation dose of over 3000 rad. Five others received doses of 300 to 1.000 rem and suffered temporary radiation poisoning.

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

The nuclear chain

Mayak/Kyshtym, Russia

Nuclear factory

The Russian nuclear industry plant in Mayak contaminated more than 15.000 km2 with highly radioactive waste products through a series of accidents and radioactive leaks. The Kyshtym accident contaminated a large area of ​​the eastern Ural region in 1957. Thousands of people had to be relocated. To this day, the affected region is one of the most contaminated places on earth. 

background objects

The Mayak production cooperative was the first and, with an area of ​​more than 200 km2, the largest nuclear industrial plant in the Soviet Union. Between 1945 and 1948, five nuclear reactors were built at this site between Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk to produce plutonium for the Soviet nuclear weapons program. The plant was continuously expanded until 1987, when production was stopped and operations were gradually phased out. From 1949 to 1956, a total of 100 peta becquerels (peta = quadrillion) of radioactive waste were discharged into the tributaries of the Techa - including strontium-90, cesium-137, plutonium and uranium.1 For comparison: the radioactive contamination of the Pacific Ocean by the Super The Fukushima disaster is estimated to be around 78 PBq. In addition, there were at least eight critical accidents in Mayak by 1968...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

The Mayak plutonium factory 

In 1957, the first major accident occurred in the use of atomic energy, which is comparable in its dimensions to the catastrophes in Fukushima and Chernobyl, but only became known to the world public in 1989.

The Mayak nuclear complex, 15 kilometers east of the city of Kyshtym in Chelyabinsk Oblast on the eastern side of the southern Urals, was an important part of Stalin's 1945 plans to rapidly produce weapons-grade plutonium and close the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons deficit. In 1948 the first reactor was switched on, in 1949 the first atomic bomb was detonated and Stalin had caught up with the USA.
 

Youtube

Uranium economy: Facilities for processing uranium

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

Current news+

Climate Protection Act | Solar package | Wissing

Reform of the climate protection law:

One step forward, two backward

It's good that installing private solar systems will become easier. The bad news is that the traffic light weakens the climate protection law.

First, the traffic light parties argued about it for many months, now it's going hop, hop: On Monday, the parliamentary group leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP announced the agreement on changing the climate protection law and the solar package, and the following week both should be passed by the Bundestag and the Federal Council will be whipped. The traffic light is like this heating law Once again it is not clear that internal negotiations in no way replace the usual parliamentary procedure.

After all, large parts of the solar package are a great achievement. Countless private individuals and companies are waiting for the reduction in bureaucracy in order to achieve one Install photovoltaic system easier and have it connected. The installation of solar systems is booming, despite the previous blockade. Citizens from all political camps want to use solar energy much more after previous governments made it difficult for them to do so.

If obstacles such as long approval processes are removed, there will be a big boost and the energy transition will accelerate. This will soon be seen on roofs, over supermarket parking lots and in many other places. Tenants of a house can easily share a common area. This will be cheaper because there are no requirements for expensive technology. Registration requirements and network connection are simplified – and much more.

But despite all the cheers: the solar package also has a major drawback. After Russia's attack on Ukraine, there seemed to be a social consensus that dependence on one country for energy issues is fatal. That's it. This time it's about China, which is flooding the European markets with its solar systems and putting local manufacturers in distress. Local solar system manufacturers have already had to give up due to wrong political decisions.

But despite all the cheers: the solar package also has a major drawback. After Russia's attack on Ukraine, there seemed to be a social consensus that dependence on one country for energy issues is fatal. That's it. This time it's about China, which is flooding the European markets with its solar systems and putting local manufacturers in distress. Local solar system manufacturers have already had to give up due to wrong political decisions.

FDP is steering – in the wrong direction

In view of the boom in demand, a small renaissance had just emerged - which will now end. The few companies producing in Germany have been waiting for a sign from politicians that they will be helped to compete with subsidized Chinese products. This would be necessary in order to at least keep the know-how in Europe and to be able to quickly ramp up production if necessary. But the FDP prevailed Solar package does not provide any help.

The Free Democrats believe that solar systems for Germany can also be purchased elsewhere. However, this rejection cannot remain the same - especially since the components for wind turbines are also imported, largely from China. It's hard to believe: The Federal Republic, the fourth largest industrial country in the world, is left with nothing in one of the most important economic sectors of the future - the construction of solar and wind systems.

Not wanting to change anything about this is an aberration in industrial policy. The FDP is at the wheel and sets the direction. The Greens and the SPD must now ensure that a different path is taken. The FDP used the sensible parts of the solar package as collateral to put pressure on climate policy - here too for the wrong side. The traffic light therefore takes a huge step backwards. It gets rid of the climate protection obligations introduced under Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) in 2019.

Fatal offsetting of emissions

These requirements stipulate that CO2 emissions must be reduced by certain amounts in individual areas such as transport, buildings, energy or industry. Until now, the following applies: If the goals are not achieved, adjustments must be made. Not anymore. The emissions from the different areas will be offset against each other in the future. This softening is a gift Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP), who makes no effort to do anything to reduce CO2 emissions in transport.

Reducing emissions could certainly be achieved, for example with a speed limit, cheaper train prices or partial driving restrictions for particularly emission-intensive cars. Now there is no pressure on Wissing to develop at least a little imagination and even worry about reducing CO2 emissions in transport. Climate activists, environmental associations and scientists are outraged about this.

They fear that by weakening the current rules, the federal government will give itself carte blanche so that it no longer has to tackle any major climate protection projects during this legislative period. This fear is justified. With the federal government's delay policy, the achievement of the Climate goals by 2030 increasingly unlikely.

Background knowledge

The map of the nuclear world

This world map somehow looks as if our very last transport ministers Scheuer and Wissing had hatched this plan together. The question of meaning is of course completely out of place. The main thing is to spend a lot of money...

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The “Internal Search”

Climate Protection Act | Minister of Transport | Solar package

April 12, 2024 - FDP intrigues regarding the climate protection law

March 24, 2024 - Transport Minister wants to invest 150 million euros in a German air taxi startup

December 12, 2023 - Traffic light postpones solar package and climate law

September 28, 2023 - Illegal: The truth about the Federal Republic's CO2 budget

May 9, 2023 - Photovoltaic Strategy - Fewer hurdles for solar expansion

April 17, 2023 - Expert advice on traffic and construction - Bad climate report for the traffic lights

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The search engine Ecosia is planting trees!

https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=Klimaschutzgesetz

https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=Deutschlands Verkehrsminister

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Wikipedia

Climate Protection Act

A climate protection law is a framework law that sets out principles and obligations for climate policy in a state or sub-state entity. Climate protection laws are the core of climate protection legislation within climate protection law - those norms that are intended to protect the climate as a protected asset from human influences. Their framework regulations must be supplemented by additional standards and implemented with concrete climate policy measures and instruments. Important elements of climate protection laws are climate targets, especially emission reduction targets, and regulations for monitoring, reporting and control.

Climate protection laws are usually linked to international agreements on climate protection - such as the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Climate Treaty or other international agreements - and translate obligations and goals from these agreements into those for the legislature's territory. Climate protection laws are often integrated into a national climate protection program.

[...] Germany 

During the election campaign for the 90 federal election, the SPD and Alliance 2013/The Greens made drafts and election promises for a national climate protection law. A German climate protection law has long been seen by several environmental organizations and development associations as a central contribution to global climate protection efforts, including the Climate Alliance...
 

I included this following list from Wikipedia just for pure enjoyment, without any meaning or ulterior motive.

List of German transport ministers

Transport ministers are or were those members of the federal or Reich government who deal with the issues of transport.

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YouTube

Search:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Klimaschutzgesetz+Solarpaket+2
 

Playlist - radioactivity worldwide ...

This playlist contains over 150 videos on the topic of atoms*

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Newsletter XVI 2024 - April 14th to 20th

Newspaper article 2024

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