Newsletter XVIII 2023 |
30. April to 6. May
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Nuclear Power Accidents
This PDF file contains a list of accidents and releases of radioactivity. Some of this information was only made public under the most difficult of circumstances. As new information emerges, this list will be expanded and updated...
Excerpt for this month:
1 May 1968 (INES 4 | NAMS 4,6) Nuclear factory Sellafield, GBR
1 May 1962 (french Nuclear test "Beryl") In Ecker, FRA
2 May 1967 (INES 4) NPP Chapelcross, GBR
4 May 1986 (INES 0 Class.?) NPP THTR 300, DEU
7 May 2007 (INES 1) NPP Philipsburg, DEU
7 May 1966 (INES 4) Research Institute RIAR, Melekess, USSR
11. to 13. May 1998 (6 atomic bomb tests) Pokhran, IND
11 May 1969 (INES 5 | NAMS 2,3) Rocky Flats, USA
12 May 1988 (INES 2) NPP Civaux, FRA
13 May 1978 (INES ? Class.?) NPP AVR Jülich, DEU
18 May 1974 (India's 1st atomic bomb test) Pokhran, IND
21 May 1946 (INES 4) T Undlicher Unfall in Los Alamos, USA
22 May 1968 (Broken Arrow) USS Scorpion sank sw. of the Azores, USA
24 May 1958 (INES ? Class.?) NRU ChalkRiver, CAN
25 May 2009 (North Korea's 2nd nuclear bomb test) Punggye-ri, PRK
26 May 1971 (INES 4 | Class.?) Kurchatov Institute, Moscow, USSR
27 May 1956 (US atomic bomb tests) Eniwetok and Bikini, USA
28. to 30. May 1998 (6 Pakistani nuclear bomb tests) Ras Koh, PAH
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We are looking for current information. If you can help, please send a message to: nukleare-welt@reaktorpleite.de
6. May
Bavaria | Kini Jödler | CSU party conference
Söder threatens to become yesterday
CSU boss Söder opened the election campaign with his nomination as the top candidate - at the party conference, his traffic light attacks in particular caused the greatest applause. Ideas on how he wants to shape Bavaria in the future are missing.
Five months before the state elections, the CSU is content with looking back at the past few years. For 90 minutes, Markus Söder presents his view of things to the delegates at the party conference. And the balance sheet could hardly be better - says Söder.
[...] Söder is wrong if he believes he can convince young voters when he verbally attacks Habeck and the Graichen affair. And that then denies the Bavarian Greens the right to accuse the CSU of collusion. These should not be the decisive issues in a state election.
It is certainly not in the DNA of a conservative party to want to do everything new, to constantly invent something new - but: If you only pat yourself on the back for too long and always celebrate your own successes, you are threatened that one day he will be taken down. Because he no longer strives forward.
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Spain | Temperatures | Agriculture | Dryness
Is olive oil becoming a luxury item now?
Bertolli is the best-selling olive oil brand in the world. Now the parent company Deoleo warns: If the olive harvest fails again, this will "inevitably" lead to price increases. Is olive oil becoming a luxury item?
In southern Spain, people are used to the heat, but the past few weeks have been too much even for many locals. The Spanish weather stations recorded temperatures of locally well over 35 degrees at the end of April. Add to that one of the worst droughts in the country's history. In some regions it has not rained for over 100 days and summer is yet to come. Agriculture is also affected by the heat and drought – with consequences that will soon be visible on the price tags in German supermarkets.
Olive oil in particular is likely to become even more expensive than it already is. "Due to the poor harvest in Spain, prices have already gone up," says the supermarket group Rewe, for example. There are no bottlenecks so far, but it is challenging for the trader to obtain the required quantities and qualities for the own-brand olive oil. And "unfortunately, things are not looking much better for the next harvest at the moment due to the drought," says a company spokesman...
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Greenwashing | fracking | Certificates
Project Canary: Windy certificates for fracking gas
A company that certifies US natural gas as clean is failing to detect leaks, two environmental organizations have found.
Can there be clean fracking gas? Or even environmentally friendly natural gas production? "Yes," say the USA and offer certified gas that was allegedly promoted with particularly low emissions.
But the certificates are nothing more than greenwashing, criticizes a report published in April by the organizations Earthworks and Oil Change International.
In order to identify natural gas as particularly climate-friendly, the certifiers evaluate emissions along the supply chain and processing standards. They also check how a company deals with leaks. One of the companies offering such certifications is Project Canary...
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Fossil | LPG | LNG terminal
LNG in focus
German lenders fuel LNG boom
Since the beginning of 2022, German banks have co-financed the growing gas exports from the USA with billions of euros, according to a new report by environmental organizations. The fossil investments harm the climate and also violate international obligations of Germany. Part 2 of the LNG series.
In the last ten years, it was mainly banks from Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, France and the USA itself that financed the construction of LNG export terminals in the USA. But now Germany is developing into an increasingly important player.
Since the beginning of 2022, German banks have already granted loans of 2,17 billion euros for US gas export projects. That's a huge increase. A total of just 2012 billion euros was made available between 2021 and 1,86. In addition, there were bonds of 630 million euros.
This emerges from data on which the recently published report "Investments in climate chaos" by the environmental organizations Urgewald, Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) and Andy Gheorghiu Consulting is based ...
5. May
Climate Crisis | Society | wealthy
"After me the deluge, I have no children": millionaire outraged on ZDF with a climate statement
What role do rich people play against the background of the climate crisis? In the ZDF talk, a millionaire made a statement that made many viewers angry.
Frankfurt – Climate change is an omnipresent topic. After the "Friday's for Future" movement had repeatedly attracted attention in recent years, the "last generation" is now often causing a stir. Only recently, due to the protests by the climate stickers in Berlin, there were a number of police operations. The blocking of roads and highways by climate activists is controversial.
[...] Another user at least gave him credit for his honesty: "But at least he is more honest than other rich people who wouldn't admit something like that in order to maintain their social status." Another user alluded to freedom of expression. As a society we also have to tolerate such attitudes. “But as a society we don’t have to stand aside, we can regulate behavior through taxes and bans,” he continued...
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Democracy | Secret | Transparency | Freedom of Information
Freedom of Information:
"Secret negotiations weaken the democratic principles of the EU"
Emilio de Capitani worked for the European Parliament for many years. After his retirement, the lawyer sued his former employer. The secrecy when writing EU laws is not compatible with the European treaties, says De Capitani in an interview with netzpolitik.org.
With his complaints he has broken down a wall. A wall behind which EU negotiations are conducted behind closed doors. Emilio De Capitani has become a legend through his legal fight against the lack of transparency in Brussels. In an interview with netzpolitik.org, the Italian lawyer explains why he is suing his former employer and what the consequences of the two judgments he fought for before the European Court ...
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Energy transition | Citizen Energy | energy sharing
Berlin Energy Days on energy sharing
Share the electricity from the school's solar roof
When it comes to traffic lights, too, energy sharing remains the stepchild of the energy transition. Researchers and associations agree that the joint generation and use of electricity could also give new energy to community energy.
If households in a house or neighborhood share the electricity they have generated themselves, does such energy sharing really do any good? The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) presented an analysis of this at the Berlin Energy Days in a debate on sharing.
Because energy sharing is not yet legally possible in this country, the ISE researchers oriented themselves to the Austrian "Renewable Energy Community".
Since 2017, it has been possible in the Alpine country to make the electricity generated by a so-called "community generation system" on a building available to all residents or tenants within the building...
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Nature Conservation | Credit Suisse | Ecuador Galapagos
Galapagos deal with Credit Suisse
Ecuador swaps debt for conservation
The Galapagos Islands are one of the most valuable ecosystems in the world. In order to secure their preservation, the Swiss Credit Suisse made an offer to the government of Ecuador last month. This accepts - and thus seals the world's largest exchange of debt for nature.
The major Swiss bank Credit Suisse has bought back Ecuadorian government bonds with a face value of 1,6 billion dollars. According to Ecuadorian bankers, the buyback will free up cash that Ecuador will invest in preserving the Galapagos Islands, one of the world's most valuable ecosystems.
Credit Suisse made the offer late last month. It is the largest exchange of debt for nature, as such transactions are called in banking circles, to date. Almost the entire land and sea area of the Galapagos Islands is under strict nature protection ...
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Climate protection | Autobahn | speed limit
Federal Environment Minister Lemke is campaigning for a speed limit
Federal Environment Minister Lemke has campaigned for a speed limit on German autobahns. Despite advances in electric mobility, this is an important step for climate protection.
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke is calling for more efforts to be made to protect the climate in traffic - and is bringing a speed limit on motorways into play.
The Greens politician said the federal government had set ambitious goals for the expansion of electromobility. "But that alone will not be enough to achieve the climate goals in transport. And if a climate protection measure cannot be implemented quickly enough, then that inevitably increases the pressure on others. The climate crisis will not allow itself to be negotiated."
[...] Lemke also emphasized that the individual sectors remain responsible for climate protection. “Transportation must also achieve its climate protection goals, just like all other sectors.” The leaders of the traffic light coalition had agreed to reform the climate protection law.
4. May
Participation | Wind farm | Arnsberg
Up to 35 turbines, 270 meters high: Mega wind farm is being built at Möhnesee
It is to be the largest wind farm in NRW. And with its 270 meter high facilities, it is to be built at one of the most popular destinations in the country: at the Möhnesee.
Möhnesee - Where storms in disastrous cooperation with pests and drought have severely damaged the forest in recent years, the wind should be used beneficially in the future - for clean energy production. The largest wind farm in North Rhine-Westphalia is planned in the Arnsberg Forest, also in the area of the municipality of Möhnesee - and one of the largest in Germany.
[...]
Thölken admits that at least some of the facilities “in the first row” in the north-eastern area of the planned area will be visible from the Möhnesee – one of the points that, according to information from our editorial team, caused at least parts of the Möhnesee politicians some concern when the plans were presented.
On the other hand, the fact that the municipality receives an annual share of around 280 euros in the income from the wind farm and that the Herdringer Forst Cultural Foundation is proposing further possibilities for financial participation by the municipalities concerned was received much more positively, it is said...
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Nuclear phase-out | Nuclear waste | Interim storage | Asse II
No solution to the dispute over the Asse interim storage facility
What to do with thousands of barrels of nuclear waste as long as there is no repository? This question concerns the federal government and the residents of Asse. The former mine is dilapidated and needs to be cleared. Environment Minister Lemke got an idea on site.
In the dispute over the Asse site in Lower Saxony as an interim storage facility for nuclear waste, the fronts remain hardened. The former salt dome is dilapidated and should be cleared in about ten years. Around 126.000 barrels of low- and medium-level radioactive nuclear waste are currently stored there. As long as there is no repository in Germany, they have to be stored temporarily. The plans of the responsible Federal Agency for Disposal (BGE) to look for a site near the Asse are met with resistance.
When Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke visited the site, several citizens' initiatives called for the Green politician to give her authority. Lemke must instruct the BGE as the operator to finally arrange for the site comparison for an interim storage facility requested by environmental groups and residents, explained the Asse II coordination group. For years, the BGE has acted against the interests of people and the environment in the area around the dilapidated salt dome...
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thoughts | artificial intelligence
Neurology
Brain scanner: US researchers are getting closer to reading minds with AI
According to their own statements, US scientists have succeeded in using brain scanners and artificial intelligence to roughly record what people think and thus come a whole lot closer to reading minds. The researchers at the University of Texas at Austin use a speech decoder that works "on a completely different level" than current devices, said Alexander Huth, a neuroscientist at the US university and co-author of a study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience on the subject on Monday at a press conference.
[...] Bioethics professor at the University of Grenada in Spain, David Rodriguez-Arias Vailhen, who was not involved in the experiment, confirmed that the system goes beyond what has been achieved with previous brain-computer interfaces. "This brings us closer to a future where machines are able to read and transcribe minds," he said, warning that this could potentially happen against a person's will, such as when they are sleeping.
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geothermal energy | environmentally friendly heating | District heating
Heating with deep geothermal energy: Why isn't that more common?
Geothermal energy, i.e. heat from the depths of the earth, is something like a sleeping giant. It could cover up to 40 percent of Bavaria's heat requirements, but it hasn't even reached one percent. Why is that - and how it could change.
While many in Germany are wondering how they should heat in an environmentally friendly way in the future, the 9.000-inhabitant community of Pullach in the Isar valley has no problem. Here they started in 2004 to tap the hot water underground by drilling. Today, more than 50 percent of Pullach households heat with it, soon it will be 80 percent, according to Helmut Mangold from the IEP Innovative Energie für Pullach GmbH.
Actually, large parts of southern Bavaria could do the same, the so-called Molasse Basin offers the best geological conditions. The main reason why it hasn't happened yet is because of the money. Pullach paid a total of over 100 million euros for the geothermal drilling and, above all, for the associated district heating network...
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Climate policy | traffic light coalition | FDP
Climate policy: FDP - the party that always says no
In the traffic light government, the smallest coalition partner shoots across. Constructive approaches? none. An analysis
The German model company Viessmann announced the sale of its air conditioning and heat pump division to the US company Carrier last week. While the SPD and the Greens welcomed the sale with the proviso that future investments by the US company would benefit Germany as a location, the liberal business party FDP found the transatlantic deal difficult: the heating transition was too hasty, intellectual property and production in Germany were not secured, it said from the ranks of the liberals.
The spirit that always denies
In the traffic light coalition, the FDP behaves reliably as a "ghost who always says no": The heat transition is going too fast for them, and they are blocking the traffic transition as best they can. It does not offer alternatives for climate protection measures - that is anything but constructive ...
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"The eco-clock is also ticking in Germany"
Earth Overshoot Day in this country already on May 4th
Every year, the non-governmental organization Global Footprint Network (GFN), based in Oakland, California, calculates Earth Overshoot Day – not only worldwide, but also broken down by individual country.
In Germany, this day falls on May 2023, 4. It is the date when humans have consumed all the natural resources and services that a self-sustaining nature can only provide by the end of the year - from wood and water to fish and meat to grain and cotton...
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4 May 1986 (INES 0 Class.?!) NPP THTR 300, DEU
https://www.reaktorpleite.de/geschichte.html#Stoerfall
The incident that caused the operators of the THTR to lose favor with the SPD ruling in North Rhine-Westphalia occurred on the night of May 4th, 5. The radioactive cloud emanating from the radiating reactor ruins in Chernobyl (INES 1986 "Catastrophic accident" on April 7, 26.04.1986) lay over Europe ...
AtomkraftwerkePlag
https://atomkraftwerkeplag.fandom.com/de/wiki/Hamm-Uentrop_(Nordrhein-Westfalen)
A few days after the Chernobyl disaster, there was an incident in the THTR: broken spherical fuel elements clogged on April 4th/5th. May 1986 a loading facility, whereupon radioactive aerosols were released and contaminated dust and contaminated helium in an unknown quantity in the environment. In the vicinity of the reactor, 50.000 becquerels of radiation per square meter of ground were measured, which were caused by radioactive graphite dust. The operator initially concealed the incident and later described the environmental impact as not "significantly large".
After an inspection revealed damage to the insulating sheets of the hot gas ducts and differences arose between the federal government, the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia, the operator and the electricity industry about the reserves for the decommissioning, the reactor went offline in 1988...
Wikipedia
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernkraftwerk_THTR-300#Probleme_und_St.C3.B6rf.C3.A4lle
Unknown amounts of radioactive aerosols escaped from the nuclear power plant THTR-300 in Hamm-Uentrop. Broken spherical fuel elements clogged the pipes of the charging system and attempts were made to blow these pipes free again with high gas pressure (helium). The existing measuring devices were switched off at the time of the incident, so nothing is known about the exact amounts. Further attempts to blow the pipes free resulted in all the jammed balls breaking and parts of the system being bent...
Nuclear power accidents by country#Germany
SPIEGEL article 'Sparkling eyes'
3. May
Italy | drought and dryness | Flooding
Region of Emilia Romagna
Dead after floods in Italy
After months of drought and drought, heavy rainfall has caused flooding in northern Italy. At least two people were killed and hundreds had to leave their homes.
A day and a half of continuous rain has caused flooding and landslides in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. According to consistent media reports, at least two people died.
An elderly man was swept away by the masses of water on his bike in the province of Ravenna as he rode on a closed road. Another person died under the rubble of a house near Imola when it collapsed after a landslide. Another person is still missing...
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Isar | nuclear waste interim storage facility | Castor container
Isar nuclear waste interim storage facility ready for Castor storage
The Isar interim storage facility for nuclear waste in Niederaichbach, Lower Bavaria, has successfully completed a test run. It will soon house seven Castor casks containing high-level radioactive waste from the Sellafield reprocessing plant.
The nuclear waste interim storage facility in Niederaichbach, Lower Bavaria, has successfully carried out a first test run for the planned storage of Castor casks with highly radioactive waste from the reprocessing of German fuel elements. This was announced by the operator BGZ Gesellschaft for interim storage on Wednesday. The test run is part of the preparations for the take-back of this high-level radioactive waste from the UK's Sellafield reprocessing site. A specific date for the transport to Bavaria has not yet been set ...
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Assange | United States | Baerbock
Stella Assange wants more support from federal government
Stella Assange, wife of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is imprisoned in London, is calling for the federal government to do more in her husband's case. "The German government is a close ally of the United States," she told Der Spiegel. This puts them in the special position of "working for Julian's freedom".
Stella Assange recently met members of parliament and representatives of the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. "We are in a very different situation than four years ago, when Julian was arrested." She sees the importance of the case and its impact on press freedom in the public awareness. "The movement for Julian's release has now gone mainstream," Assange said. At the same time, she indirectly criticized Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who had called for Julian Assange's immediate release during the federal election campaign. In the new office, she is holding back in public and instead is taking an offensive approach to authoritarian countries such as China and Russia. "Just complaining that other countries do something like this to journalists is counterproductive if you don't do it in every case," she told Der Spiegel...
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uranium production | Soviet Union | Wismut
German uranium made the Soviet Union a nuclear power
Germany played a key role in the nuclear armament of the Soviet Union. Records report over 200.000 tons of uranium being mined.
After the Second World War, the Soviet Union feverishly searched for uranium in the nuclear arms race with the USA. She found what she was looking for in Saxony and Thuringia. The mining company was given the alias Wismut, as today's Wismut GmbH explains on its website. Because of a number of special rights, it was considered a "state within a state," according to the website of the Stasi documents archive. With more than 100.000 employees at times, Wismut claims to have extracted more than 1990 tons of uranium from the earth by the end of 216.000. In doing so, it made the GDR one of the largest producers of the radioactive metal in the world and enabled the then USSR to become a nuclear superpower...
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North Sea | Offshore wind energy
Output of 200 nuclear power plants: the world's largest power plant is being built in the North Sea
The North Sea is to become the "green power plant of Europe". By 2050, wind energy should be 300 gigawatts - that was decided at the North Sea Summit.
Ostend – Wind energy from the North Sea is set to boom in the future. At the second North Sea Summit on Monday (April 24), the heads of government of nine countries signed a declaration on the expansion of wind farms off the North Sea coast - this should make them the greenest power plant in Europe. "With the North Sea, we have the energy powerhouse practically on our doorstep," said Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The North Sea should soon make a significant contribution to Europe's energy supply.
[...] The expansion of offshore wind energy has recently made slow progress in Germany and the EU. Last year, according to the Belgian government, the nine states generated around 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy. Around 8 gigawatts came from Germany, the majority of which came from the North Sea. France, Norway and Ireland each produced significantly less than 1 gigawatt.
2. May
France | wind power opponents | Powerrequirements
Only 8000 wind turbines in all of France
France and renewable energies: the fading wind power revolution
Long coasts, wide open spaces, lots of forest, wind and sun - France actually has great potential for renewable energies. Nevertheless, their expansion is progressing slowly. The reasons are ideological, says one expert.
[...] Long coastlines, wide open spaces, lots of forests, wind and sun – France actually has a high potential for renewable energies. But in 2020 it was actually the only EU country to miss its targets, as renewables only accounted for 19 percent of total energy consumption instead of the targeted 23 percent. Hydropower and biomass are relatively well developed, but solar and wind energy are not. It currently has around 8000 wind turbines, compared to almost 30.000 in Germany, which has a smaller area. There were 1374 systems in operation in Austria at the beginning of the year.
[...] In surveys, a majority of French people are in favor of expanding renewable energy. But even individuals or small groups can set projects back years. That's why these are invested for an average of eight to ten years, says the expert: "This makes them more expensive and carries higher risks, which makes potential financiers and investors more cautious and the corresponding industries develop less strongly." ...
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Hydrogen | offshore | desalination of sea water
Fraunhofer ISE develops concept for offshore hydrogen production
The modular concept can be scaled quickly. It is also independent of any network connection. Because the hydrogen is transported away by ship.
Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) and other project partners have developed a technical system concept and a design for a hydrogen electrolysis system. The special feature: The system is optimized for use at sea. With the system, the researchers want to show that wind power produced offshore can be stored directly in the form of hydrogen and transported away from there, and that this is also economical...
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Climate change | Expansion of renewables | Petersberg Climate Dialogue
Baerbock: climate finance commitment for poor countries within reach
Countries in hotter areas of the world often suffer particularly from the effects of climate change. Industrialized countries have long promised more help - now there should be movement.
Berlin (dpa) - According to Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the rich countries will for the first time keep their promise of billions in financial support for poorer countries in climate protection this year.
"The good news is: As it looks now, we are on the way to finally reaching the sum of 100 billion US dollars this year," said the Green politician at the Petersberg climate dialogue in Berlin.
In Copenhagen in 2009, the industrialized countries had promised to mobilize 2020 billion US dollars annually from public and private sources for climate protection in developing countries by the year 100, which has not yet been achieved. Germany has already pledged to increase its own contribution to international climate finance to at least six billion euros, said Baerbock. But massive private funds are also needed, which is why Germany, together with the USA, is committed to reforms at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank ...
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Resignation of Boris Palmer:
Time for real purification
Boris Palmer himself had to admit that he had crossed borders. Now he wants to get help. Good idea.
The only one who stood in Boris Palmer's way was always Boris Palmer himself. Now the talented politician, successful mayor, but also unpredictable quarterly troublemaker has lost his last close supporters with a surreal appearance in front of a building of the Goethe University in Frankfurt. At least he did his Green Party, which he never wanted to leave, a service by voluntarily resigning yesterday.
Anyone who looks online at how the politician defends untenable positions in front of a group of demonstrators and allows himself to be provoked into this unspeakable comparison with the Star of David feels tragically reminded of his father. Helmut Palmer was himself a victim of the Nazi regime. As a political fact of the young Federal Republic, he sometimes poured out justified but often excessive polemics about politicians. Because of his insults, he had to go to prison several times ...
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2 May 1967 (INES 4) NPP Chapelcross, GBR
A fuel rod caught fire causing a partial meltdown at the Chaplecross Magnox Nuclear Power Plant, shutdown and 2 year repair time.
Wikipedia
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernkraftwerk_Chapelcross
In May 1967 there was a partial core meltdown in Block 2. The cause was a test fuel rod in which a graphite particle blocked the cooling system. The core was renewed and returned to service in 1969.
In 2001 there was an incident when reactor 3 was being refueled.
Nuclear power accidents by country#United_Kingdom
AtomkraftwerkePlag
https://atomkraftwerkeplag.fandom.com/de/wiki/Chapelcross_(Großbritannien)
Partial meltdown, Lockerbie plane crash and other incidents
On May 2, 1967, a partial meltdown occurred in Chapelcross-2. The trigger was a fuel rod that broke and caught fire. The incident was kept secret for several years, the reactor remained shut down for two years ...
1. May
traffic light coalition | Asylum | EU external borders
Faeser for asylum procedures at the EU external borders
According to Interior Minister Faeser, the federal government wants to support asylum procedures at the EU's external borders - and thus enable a reform of European refugee policy. There is criticism of that.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Sunday evening in the ARD program "Report from Berlin" that a "major change" was emerging in European asylum policy. The traffic light coalition has now agreed "that we want to advance this common asylum system," added the SPD politician.
[...]
The plans, however, met with criticism: On Monday, the German Institute for Human Rights rejected in particular ideas that asylum procedures should be carried out more at the EU's external borders. In practice, this requirement can only be enforced through closed reception centers or significant restrictions on freedom of movement in transit zones or on small islands. Even now, however, European legal requirements for dealing with people seeking protection at the EU's external borders are often being disregarded.
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Finland wants to import nuclear waste:
Radiant shops
Nuclear fans in Finland suggest storing radioactive waste from abroad in Finnish repositories. They promise deals worth billions.
STOCKHOLM taz | If you already have a nuclear waste repository, why not make it available for the storage of radioactive waste from abroad? And then turn it into a “radiant” business in many respects?
In Finland, this idea was launched by representatives of so-called eco-modernism: They see the expansion of nuclear energy as part of the solution to the ongoing climate catastrophe. In addition to billions in income for the state, they hope to be able to reduce skepticism about new nuclear power plants (NPPs) by storing foreign nuclear waste - for example in countries like Germany ...
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After a scandal
Boris Palmer announces time off
At a conference, Green politician Boris Palmer caused a scandal. Now he wants to retire for a while and seek professional help. SPIEGEL has a corresponding statement.
Tübingen Mayor Boris Palmer wants to take a break in Frankfurt am Main after his controversial statements about the N-word and the Jewish star. He announced this on Monday in a personal statement that was available to SPIEGEL. The Südwestdeutscher Rundfunk (SWR) had previously reported on it.
[...] The politician said the N-word in the face of a non-white speaker before a migration conference, and he compares the ensuing outrage to the Jewish star (Here you can read more about it). When he took a stand on the incident during a verbal argument in front of a Goethe University building on Friday and was confronted with shouts of "Nazis out," Palmer said to the crowd: "It's nothing more than the Jewish star. That's because I used a word that you attach everything else to. If you say a wrong word, you are a Nazi. Think about it.« ...
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march of rights
Hundreds of participants in demonstrations in Gera
Hundreds of people joined right-wing demonstrations and protests in Gera on May 1st. The police took action against right-wing extremist posters and surrounded counter-demonstrators.
Hundreds of people took part in two large demonstrations in Gera on Monday afternoon. According to the police, around 750 people took part in a demonstration by the newly founded, right-wing association "Aufbruch Gera". There were also several hundred participants in the protests...
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Nuclear weapons | disarmament | nuclear sharing
Discussion about nuclear sharing:
Double standards of the traffic light coalition
ICAN and the Left Party warn the federal government of a nuclear threat. But mere lip service to nuclear disarmament is not enough.
BERLIN taz | The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and the Left Party accuse the federal government of double standards. The reason for this is the answer to a small question from Left MP Kathrin Vogler on the stationing of nuclear weapons in non-nuclear states. In it, the government states that it would "emphatically" advocate the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and "concrete steps" within the framework of nuclear arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation. However, she does not see any practical consequences for the nuclear weapons stationed in Germany ...
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1 May 1968 (INES 4 | NAMS 4) Nuclear factory Sellafield, GBR
The chimney of building B230 emitted over a period of about a month due to a defective filter 550 TBq radioactive radiation.
This incident as well as several other releases of radioactivity from Sellafield are in the German Wikipedia no longer to be found. Apparently, slowly but surely all important information about accidents in the nuclear industry is removed from Wikipedia!
Wikipedia
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellafield
Since the late 1940's and Windscale/Sellafield's inception, approximately 20 incidents of greater or lesser severity involving the release of radioactivity have been reported. The nuclear waste generated during day-to-day operations is discharged in large quantities in liquid form via a pipeline into the Irish Sea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellafield
Nuclear power accidents by country#United_Kingdom
AtomkraftwerkePlag
Sellafield (formerly_Windscale), United Kingdom
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
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 ...
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1 May 1962 Atomic bomb test Beryl Nuclear test site In Ekker, DZA
Nuclear test Béryl - In 1961 and 1962, France carried out 13 underground nuclear tests in the Hoggar Mountains, the second test "Béryl" on 01.05.1962/XNUMX/XNUMX broke through and was overground ...
AtomkraftwerkePlag
Algeria and French Polynesia
Up until 2001, the French government still denied that there were any radiation victims as a result of its 210 nuclear tests in Algeria and Polynesia.
In the Algerian Sahara, shortly after one of the tests, French recruits were deliberately led to the site of the explosion in order to "explore the physical and mental effects of the nuclear weapon on people." Many of the nuclear test veterans now suffer from cancer and other radiation sicknesses...
Atomwaffen A-Z
Overview of the atomic arsenals worldwide ...
Wikipedia
In the vicinity of In Ekker, France operated an experimental center for the military ("Center d'expérimentations militaires des oasis, CEMO"). 7 nuclear weapons tests were carried out there between November 1961, 16 and February 1966, 13. On the second test (Beryl) on May 1, 1962, the closure of the tunnel did not withstand. Radioactive gases, dust and lava were ejected. The observers of the test were contaminated (including French ministers present) ...
30. April
Climate change | Responsibility | delay
Climate Delay Tactics
What Springer, Schäffler, Spahn and Wagenknecht have in common
There are four categories of spurious arguments intended to further delay real climate policy. A polyphonic choir is currently performing them in different roles: from »Bild« to Sahra Wagenknecht. Why is that?
The most important scientific publication for understanding the current political debate on climate policy is 2020 in the journal »global sustainability« was published (freely readable).
There is even one multilingual cartoon version. In it, for example, an entrepreneurial cowboy with a Mars rocket on his belt talks with a crazy grin about “future technologies”, an innocent-looking politician assures that society can only be expected to adopt “voluntary politics”, a frog-eyed businessman claims: “Reducing emissions will weaken us. «
Four categories of delaying tactics
The underlying publication, in which authors from Germany are also involved, breaks down the delay discourses into four broad categories:
- »It is not possible to mitigate the consequences of climate change: surrender.«
- »Others should do something first: Shift responsibility.«
- »Disruptive change is unnecessary: promoting non-transformative solutions.«
- »The changes will be profound: emphasizing the downsides.«
Each of these includes a number of sub-arguments from “fossil fuels are needed for development” to “our carbon footprint is negligible compared to (China, India, US, etc.)”. According to the authors, some contain “partial truths” or are presented “in good faith”. Ultimately, however, they all have the same purpose: »To create confusion and to discourage ambitious climate action.« ...
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Does it make sense to store CO2 in the North Sea soil?
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the injection of carbon dioxide into the seabed could make a contribution to climate protection. How risky is this technology? Do we need them to achieve the climate targets in Germany? How much CO2 could you actually store under the North Sea?
Denmark is showing how it's done. In March, the neighboring country began injecting carbon dioxide into the North Sea - more precisely into a former oil field about 200 kilometers off the coast. The aim is to prevent the climate-damaging gas from escaping into the atmosphere. In the Danish "Greensand" project, the CO2 comes from a Belgian chemical factory in Antwerp. There it is separated, liquefied and then transported by ship to the platform off the Danish coast. Initially, the amounts involved are very small, but in the future eight million tons of CO2 are to be compressed each year. That would be 13 percent of Denmark's current CO2 emissions. And there is another big project planned in the Danish North Sea...
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Shrimp fishery in the North Sea:
Nets merely caress the seabed
According to a study by the Thünen Institute, shrimp fishing has only a minor impact on the environment. Environmental groups criticize methodology.
[...] The crab fishery has been criticized for years because of its fishing method: with its bottom trawls, it drags trawls, so-called beam trawls, on rollers across the seabed, destroying this habitat in the process. In addition, large amounts of bycatch ended up in the nets - fish and sea creatures that weren't supposed to end up there.
According to the Thünen Institute, however, this criticism is too sweeping: "Each habitat type is so unique in its regional characteristics that the special combination of habitat, associated ecosystem and fishing gear must be examined for an accurate assessment," says the research institution about its study. In addition to short-term effects of beam trawling, the study also explored the chronic changes caused by sustained fishing pressure...
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Everything green?
Energy Colonialism through Hydrogen Cooperation
by Horst Blume
The obvious consequences of the climate catastrophe and the lack of gas supplies from Russia as a result of the Ukraine war have meanwhile led to hectic activities on numerous levels in order to increasingly produce energy in a climate-neutral, sustainable and environmentally friendly manner in the future. The energy carrier hydrogen, which is said to be better able to transport and store energy, is of particular importance here. Many positive properties are attributed to green hydrogen, which is obtained from alternative energy.
But there are also serious negative ones: "The amounts of green electricity required for production are enormous. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), according to the current state of the art, 20 to 40 percent of the energy is lost in electrolysis, depending on the process. In addition, there are losses during further processing during compression (up to 15 percent) or liquefaction (up to 25 percent) for transport. Even before hydrogen is actually used as an energy carrier, a considerable part of the green primary energy is lost".
Since the Federal Republic of Germany cannot produce as much hydrogen itself for its own future needs as estimated by the government, hydrogen cooperations with countries in the Global South have been initiated in recent years. Africa and South America in particular should play a special role here. Various parties assume that in the future 15 to 30 percent of Germany's energy needs will have to be generated in these countries.
High energy consumption remains
This strategic orientation, which has already been tackled, assumes that in Germany (and the EU) the consumption of energy and raw materials, as well as the consumption of goods and the fixation on car traffic will remain very high. Basically, according to this model, more alternative energy should be used as before. Only the type of energy generation would then be exchanged in this "imperial way of life".
The economic cooperation now being considered would not exist between equal partners. Centuries of unjust power and exploitation between the colonial powers and colonies have left deep scars to this day. Now, of all people, those who have suffered from this development are supposed to help the main perpetrators of the climate catastrophe from the Global North by producing and supplying green hydrogen out of a jam, in order to still ensure them a comfortable standard of living with a lot of energy use in the event of the impending future catastrophes.
The Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) has been putting out feelers for a number of years to cooperate on the production of green hydrogen from alternative energy. Cooperation with southern Africa (2 member states, SADC) and West Africa (16 member states, ECOWAS) has already begun under the label "H15Atlas-Africa Project". The future development is presented by the ministry as a win-win situation for both sides: "It will create jobs, improve people's socio-economic well-being and reduce the impact of climate change as a result of dependence on fossil fuels and burning of biomass". But how should this cooperation with the people of Africa look in concrete terms in the future? Who is in charge, who gives the money, who determines the goals, which affected local groups are involved? – And why aren't initiatives from below addressed when, in contrast to the past, donors are just so suspiciously "donative"?
research center Julich
The entire project is managed and coordinated by the Research Center (FZ) Jülich, which has often proven over the past decades that it works in close cooperation with energy companies and dictatorial states for the promotion and development of large-scale and misanthropic projects (e.g. nuclear power plants ) that are planned and enforced from above. The preliminary decision for the "suitability of land areas for renewable energies and hydrogen infrastructure" as well as the assessment of the "socio-political context and the development possibilities" is left to the FZ Jülich!
The five-strong national project group is "selected from various relevant organizations". By whom and who decides remains nebulous. Furthermore, this project group reports to a "regional technical committee. The committee brings together the contributions from the various countries and represents the interests of the region both in technical and in other (!) respects. This is also reflected in the composition of the committee, which works together with the German working group of the Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH for the implementation of the project". Project groups and committees that are directly dependent on FZ Jülich and thus on the interests of the German federal government clearly show that this is not a grassroots democratic event!
Green grabbing in Africa
But what is the experience gained so far with the production of green hydrogen in Africa? The geographical proximity of Morocco to Europe makes the North African country particularly interesting. Because of the often collective form of communal, common law land use by farmers, energy companies can particularly easily claim allegedly unused pasture and farmland for themselves in order to build huge solar systems there.
The struggle of the Souliate women against this land grab has become known beyond Morocco. About 3000 hectares of land was stolen from the Amazigh communities in 2016 to build a solar power plant in Ouarzazate. There is also an immense water consumption in this dry area for cooling and rinsing the solar panels. This will exacerbate the consequences of climate change in Morocco...
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Background knowledge
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The map of the nuclear world
How long will it take humanity to end the devastation?
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The internal search for
brought the following results, among others:
March 11, 2023 - Electricity from these power plants will only cost 1 cent per kilowatt hour
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February 9, 2022 - Habeck: Need hydrogen imports in the energy transition
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November 23, 2021 - Enertrag: 9,4 billion dollar hydrogen project in Namibia
YouTube
Keyword search: Green hydrogen from Africa
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=grüner+wasserstoff+aus+afrika
Videos:
Brain nudge - 4:31
Eco-imperialism today: from expulsion to the tipping point debate
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renewable.tv - 13:00
Green hydrogen instead of natural gas - an opportunity for Africa? The Energy Transition Report
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MDR - 30:50
Energy from the desert - green hydrogen for Germany
Playlist - radioactivity worldwide ...
This playlist contains over 150 videos on the topic
Ecosia
This search engine is planting trees!
Keyword search: Green hydrogen criticism
https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=Grüner Wasserstoff Kritik
Wikipedia
Green hydrogen
The term green hydrogen refers to hydrogen obtained by means of an electrolyser, in which the energy required for the electrolysis comes from renewable energies such as e.g. B. wind energy or solar energy was covered. Water is used as the raw material. Green hydrogen is considered the only environmentally friendly, climate-neutral way to produce hydrogen. In the future, at least part of today's consumption of fossil energy (oil, natural gas, coal, etc.) should be replaced. In contrast to electricity, storable secondary energy is obtained with hydrogen. In this way, a temporal and local decoupling between generation and consumption can be achieved. It is a colorless transparent gas by nature, the production methods are characterized with different colors. Hydrogen is considered a fuel of the future in the context of a possible hydrogen economy ...
Criticism
The resulting overall efficiency within the process chains for the production of green hydrogen is not particularly high. A study by Greenpeace Energy came to the conclusion at the end of 2020 that the use of green hydrogen would only serve to protect the climate if there was an abundance of green electricity due to its comparatively poor efficiency. However, since electricity from renewable energies often has to be shut off when it is not being used, the ever-increasing surplus can still be used in the future. The German Nature Conservation Union (NABU) demands, among other things, a complete life cycle assessment of green hydrogen.
In addition, the water consumption, especially in arid regions, is criticized. Rare raw materials such as platinum or iridium are contained in the electrodes of electrolysers or any subsequent processes with fuel cells.
Regardless of how it is produced (here: green hydrogen), hydrogen is not considered to be nearly as easy to use as conventional fuels, making it difficult to use. It must be present either in gaseous form under high pressure or even cryogenically in liquefied form. This can lead to more maintenance and higher costs, among other things.
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Newsletter XVII 2023 - April 23-29
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