Newsletter XIX 2023 |
7 until 13. 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
13. May
hazards | Heat pump | PFAS | propane
"Highly explosive" heat pumps? Expert classifies dangers
Heat pumps with propane are "highly explosive", some heating engineers block themselves and there are also different positions in the heat pump association. what's up
Frankfurt/Freiburg – For climate protection and independence from fossil fuels, the federal government has set itself the goal of installing six million heat pumps by 2030. One problem with climate-friendly heating systems: the refrigerants used in the pumps, some of which are highly questionable - highly toxic PFAS, so-called "poisons of the century". A Europe-wide ban is already being planned, it would affect the majority of heat pumps installed to date...
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Nuclear waste | Straßen | Florida
What could possibly go wrong? Nuclear waste should end up in the road surface
A draft law in the US state of Florida provides for the use of radioactive waste in road construction. The by-product from the fertilizer industry is considered to be harmful to the environment and health. That is why the use of the waste product is actually prohibited in the USA.
In Florida, roads could soon be built from radioactive waste. At least that's the idea of the state government. Gov. Ron DeSantis would have to use his veto to stop the bill. The radioactive substance is phosphogypsum. It is a by-product of the phosphate industry and contains toxic and radioactive components...
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ocean temperature | ecosystem | Greenhouse effect
Ocean heating studies:
3,6 billion nuclear bombs into the sea
The greenhouse effect releases a lot of heat into the oceans. As a result, they heat up more than ever, new data shows. This has far-reaching consequences.
What is it about?
71 percent of the earth is covered with water. The seas have a significant influence on the climate. Unfortunately, heat enters the oceans much more easily than, say, sand or clay. According to a survey by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), over the past few decades, the oceans have absorbed 93 percent of the thermal energy that also enters the earth's atmosphere as a result of the man-made greenhouse effect. At the beginning of May this year, the University of Maine published measurement data according to which the world's oceans have heated to a new record temperature: 21,1 degrees Celsius was the global average at the beginning of April. Ocean temperatures have been measured since the 50s. The previous record of 21 degrees was in 2016. At that time, the El Niño weather phenomenon additionally heated the Pacific. This time, El Niño is yet to come...
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Fusion | announcements | Chat GPT
Microsoft bets on nuclear fusion: 'The boldest thing I've ever heard'
The fusion research company Helion is to provide Microsoft with clean energy from a fusion generator from 2028. A few groundbreaking advances are still needed to reach the goal.
As reported by The Verge, Microsoft signed a deal with Helion Energy on Wednesday morning, according to which the tech company plans to source electricity from a grid in Washington powered by a Helion fusion generator by 2028.
[...]
Microsoft's connection to Helion is definitely interesting. OpenAI founder Sam Altman is the main investor in Helion and sits on the board of directors. As experts assume, Altman's "Baby" ChatGPT and all other artificial intelligences will lead to an enormously high energy consumption ...
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AfD | Extreme right | Racis
Right-wing extremism in Brandenburg:
Look at the Nazis in the East
The attacks on a school class in Berlin show that racist violence is still part of normality in rural regions of Brandenburg.
... At the weekend, a group of right-wing extremist young people racially threatened and insulted a school class in Berlin who wanted to prepare for a maths test in holiday accommodation in Brandenburg's Heidesee.
Two weeks earlier, an incendiary letter from a high school in Burg, Spreewald, caused a stir. Frightened teachers wrote an anonymous letter to the public and reported a dominance of right-wing extremist students and a climate of intimidation.
[...]
The fact that the AfD sees itself as a parliamentary arm of the militant Nazi scene in the attack in Heidesee is shown by the reaction of the AfD member of parliament Steffen Kotré, who downplayed the incident and, in a clumsy perpetrator-victim reversal, fabulated of a "media hunt against Germans". ...
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Exercise | Transport transition | sticks | Volkswagen
Digital mobility: The anti-lock braking system
Suspended on both sides: VW and the campaign campers
ICEs drive past Wolfsburg, but things are also going backwards on both sides of the tracks. VW builds yesterday's cars, and a protest camp wants the old public transport back. Either way, this will not turn around in traffic.
A journey with the Deutsche Bahn from Berlin to Wolfsburg is currently like a journey into the past. Not just because of the speed. Even traveling from West Berlin with the Reichsbahn in GDR times was faster.
No, Wolfsburg is completely left behind. Not only in terms of railway technology, but also to the right and left of the railway tracks. On the one hand, cars are being built as if there were no traffic turnaround and no climate change.
On the other side a camp of activists for the traffic turnaround, for switching to buses and trains. Both sit in the past - and don't want to notice it...
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13 May 1978 (INES ? Class.?!) NPP AVR Jülich, DEU
Unfortunately, I have to keep going back to textual changes in the Wikipedia that downplay and gloss over the actual processes in the nuclear industry beyond recognition. I am all the happier when there are edits that represent a real improvement. In this case it is!
Wikipedia
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVR_(Jülich)#Störfälle
From May 13 to 22, 1978, as a result of a leak in the superheater section of the steam generator, 27,5 tons of water entered the He primary circuit and thus the reactor core. At that time, this accident was only declared as (at that time the lowest) category C (no or only minor safety-related importance), although it was due to the positive reactivity effect of the water (possibility of prompt supercriticality of the reactor) and the possible chemical reaction of the water with the graphite with formation explosive gases is one of the most dangerous accidents for a high-temperature reactor. The accident probably only had no serious consequences because the core only showed temperatures below 600 °C after the ingress of large amounts of water and because the leak remained small ...
AtomkraftwerkePlag
https://atomkraftwerkeplag.fandom.com/de/wiki/Jülich_(Nordrhein-Westfalen)
On May 13, 1978, a serious incident occurred. Water leaked into the reactor due to a leak in a heat exchanger. This had an impact on the demolition of the reactor, because it still contained "197 destroyed or atomized fuel elements", which were then embedded in concrete. Large amounts of strontium-90 and tritium are said to have escaped during the incident and got into the groundwater ...
12. May
Climate protection | Kini Jödler | announcements
Söder's fairy tale hour
Achieving climate neutrality through price does not work. Nuclear fusion, mini reactors and e-fuels are also pure wishful thinking. Markus Söder and the FDP don't care.
FDP and Union have amazing views on how climate protection can be implemented. The impression is repeatedly given that nuclear fusion could be a solution. As is well known, there is an election campaign in Bavaria, which is why the CSU even wants to build its own “demonstration plant for nuclear fusion, based in Bavaria”.
Nuclear fusion would come much too late to save the climate. Even hyperoptimists among physicists assume that nuclear fusion will not succeed for "decades" at the earliest. Incidentally, these hyperoptimists are rare. Most physicists shrug off when they hear the term nuclear fusion. Because so far it has never been possible to generate net energy through nuclear fusion. Instead, fusion has been a losing proposition so far because it takes a lot of energy to force atomic nuclei together...
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climate war | Armaments | Climate justice
We have a choice: end wars or destroy the climate
Peace and environmental movements belong together. Because fossil energies are warmongers, climate protection is inconceivable without demilitarization. The Ukraine war clearly shows why.
It is often claimed that climate movements and peace movements are not green. This is certainly not correct in this general form. It is also unfounded in the matter. Because anyone who is committed to protecting the planet and climate justice must be absolutely against war and armaments...
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12 May 1988 (INES first 1 then 2...) NPP Civaux, FRA
The Civaux-1 pressurized water reactor was shut down for five days when, during start-up tests, a 25 cm diameter pipe of the main residual heat removal system ruptured and a large leak (30.000 liters per hour) occurred in the primary cooling circuit. The reactor core must be continuously cooled, even when shut down, to dissipate the significant amount of residual heat from the fuel. It took nine hours to isolate the leak and achieve a stable situation. An 18 cm long crack was found at a weld and 300 m³ of primary coolant had leaked into the reactor building. Prior to the incident, the reactor block had only been in operation for six months at a maximum of 50% capacity.
The operator EDF suggested classifying the event as level 1 on the INES scale, but the safety authorities opted for level 2.
Wikipedia
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernkraftwerk_Civaux
Nuclear power accidents by country#France
AtomkraftwerkePlag
https://atomkraftwerkeplag.fandom.com/de/wiki/Civaux_(Frankreich)
11. May
CDU CSU | fear mongers | fossil heating | heating law
Campaign against heating replacement
Union fear mongering is shabby
The CDU collects signatures against the ban on fossil fuel heating with crude arguments, the CSU puts Robert Habeck in the vicinity of a criminal: the Union loses its sense of proportion when it comes to courting voters. Instead of taking citizens' concerns seriously, they stir up fears - to the detriment of everyone.
[...]
After the Union painted the image of a "clique" at the head of the Federal Ministry of Economics in the Bundestag on Wednesday, who, against all reason, forced the heat transition on the citizens, they started a signature campaign against the Building Energy Act today. In the Bundestag, CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja accused Economics Minister Robert Habeck of spreading "fear and terror throughout the country". With a look at the CDU campaign, one has to state that fear and terror are spread above all by the CDU ...
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Greenwashing | Advertising | EU Parliament
Fight against greenwashing
»Eco« will soon really be eco
»Environmentally friendly«, »climate neutral«: There will soon be strict guidelines for such green advertising promises. The European Parliament has approved the corresponding guidelines.
Where "eco" is written on it, in the future it should only say "eco". The European Parliament approved stricter requirements for product labeling in Strasbourg on Thursday. If companies advertise a piece of clothing or a detergent with statements such as “climate neutral” or “environmentally friendly”, this must be scientifically verifiable in the future. In addition, products should be more durable ...
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Fossil Heat | Heat pump | heating change
Largest German heating engineer puts an end to oil heating - these are the alternatives
Oil heating will be taboo by 2026 at the latest, but the largest German heating manufacturer Thermondo is already discontinuing sales. There are alternatives.
From 2026 at the latest, the installation of new oil heating systems will be prohibited in Germany. Conversely, this also means that consumers may continue to install and commission oil heating systems until the end of 2025. That was decided under Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU).
However, if the current federal government has its way, heating with oil should be banned two years earlier – i.e. 2024. Many people who heat their homes with an oil heater are worried and ask themselves: "Can I still get a cheap oil heater at all or do I have to be prepared for huge investments now? Which heating system can still be installed in my house after 2024?" ...
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Climate change | climate-damaging industry | Pension fund
How civil servant pensions are fueling the climate crisis
Ten out of 16 federal states are investing hundreds of millions of euros from their pension funds in climate-damaging industries. Scandalous corporations such as Exxon and BP, but also major international banks that are pushing ahead with the expansion of fossil fuels, are benefiting from the money. But some federal states are already rethinking.
Anyone who works in the service of the state in Saxony-Anhalt has a financial cushion waiting for them at the end of their career: the state of Saxony-Anhalt has invested around 1,6 billion euros in a specially created pension fund on the international capital market. In the form of corporate bonds, shares or government bonds. Not only do retired firefighters, teachers and judicial officers benefit from this, but also climate-damaging industries and major international banks, which are massively pushing ahead with the expansion of fossil fuels. This is shown by a current CORRECTIV evaluation of the pension funds in the 16 federal states...
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decontamination | heavy metal | microbes
Magnet bacteria as uranium eaters
Microbes can remove uranium and other dangerous heavy metals from wastewater
Against contamination: In the future, bacteria could help with decontamination in nuclear repositories or in radioactive water. This is because microbes of the genus Magnetospirillum can selectively absorb uranium and other dangerous heavy metals from their environment without dying. The highlight: Because these bacteria have magnetic granules inside, they can be easily removed from the water together with their toxic load - a magnet is enough.
Whether in nuclear repositories, in the shafts and tunnels of old uranium mines or in accidents in nuclear power plants: if radioactive substances or toxic heavy metals such as lead, chromium or cadmium get into the environment, there is a risk of water, groundwater and soil being contaminated. This contamination is often difficult to remove with common chemical or physical means. But there are some bacteria that bind organic toxins, heavy metals or radioactive uranium and can thus contribute to cleaning soil and water...
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11. to 13. May 1998 5 atomic bomb tests in Pokhran, IND
Wikipedia
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernenergie_in_Indien#Militärische_Nutzung
The first nuclear charge had an explosive force of 43 kilotons of TNT equivalent and was detonated on May 11, 1998 at the army base near Pokhran (Rajasthan) in the Thar desert for test purposes, 4 further tests were also carried out in Pokhran on May 13.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_von_Kernwaffentests
Atomwaffen A - Z
https://www.atomwaffena-z.info/heute/atomwaffenstaaten/indien.html
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11 May 1969 (INES 5 | NAMS 2,3) Nuclear factory Rocky Flats, USA
A plutonium fire broke out in the processing department of building 776 10 TBq Released radioactivity and caused high doses of radiation to 41 firefighters.
The following excerpt from the linked Wikipedia-Item is no longer available. The article has been revised, facts have disappeared and everything now sounds a bit like the motto: "It wasn't all that bad"!
Wikipedia
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Flats
Plutonium spontaneously ignited in a container with 600 t of inflammable material. The fire burned 2 t of the material and released plutonium oxide. Soil samples taken around the facility revealed that the area was contaminated with plutonium. Since the operators of the plant refused to initiate investigations, the samples were taken as part of an unofficial investigation ...
AtomkraftwerkePlag
https://atomkraftwerkeplag.fandom.com/de/wiki/USA
YouTube - Reactor bankruptcy
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 ...
10. May
Correctiv | facts check | agitation | heating law
No, Germany is not the only country to ban fossil fuel heating
A map gives the impression that Germany is the only one of many countries to ban fossil fuel heating in order to reduce global CO2 emissions. But the map is wrong: countries like Sweden, Austria or the US state of New York that are already using sustainable alternatives or have concrete plans to do so are not marked on it.
claim
A map shows: Germany is the only country out of many that bans fossil fuel heating in order to save the global climate.
Rating
Incorrect. Germany plans to partially ban the use of heaters that run on fossil fuels from 2024. But also other countries on the map, and those not shown on the map, have totally or partially banned fossil fuel heating systems or are planning to do so...
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Groundwater | hot summer | precipitation
Rainy spring
Hardly any relief for the groundwater: the heavy rain leads to the fallacy
Winter too dry, March and April too wet. The assumption that this would be good for the groundwater is simply not tenable. Answers from the experts.
The groundwater level always causes headaches for experts. Low rainfall in recent years, long dry periods, hardly any meltwater due to the lack of snowfall in winter and summers that are hotter than average have massively reduced the groundwater in some regions in recent years and caused the levels in many places in the region to drop.
The Baden-Württemberg State Institute for the Environment currently lists three places in the region where the groundwater reserves are below average and where the trend is continuing to decline...
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Oil spill in Nigeria Court dismisses case against Shell
Twelve years after the devastating oil spill off the coast of Nigeria, it is now clear: Shell can no longer be held responsible for the environmental catastrophe. The case is statute-barred.
Oil giant Shell can no longer be held responsible for the 2011 oil spill off Nigeria. The UK Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit brought by Nigerian nationals. The plaintiffs argue that the oil on their land was not removed after the disaster, creating ongoing nuisance for the plaintiffs.
The court dismissed the appeal, citing the statute of limitations: "There was no ongoing harassment in this case," Justice Andrew Burrows said. The statute of limitations is only suspended if there is persistent harassment of the injured party...
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Disinformation | Fake News | Record profits
Left-green, vegan gender migrants are stealing from you with heat pumps!
Gas and electricity have become much more expensive. Gas prices rose again in the second half of 2022: 36,7% compared with the same period last year, and electricity also rose by 6,4%. Rents also rose by almost 2022% in 5 and are expected to rise further in 2023. With inflation at 7,2%, there was a 3,5% increase in consumer energy prices and 22,3% in consumer food prices. Everything has become more expensive. And at the same time, Germans' real wages are falling by 4%. In 2023, they will fall even further, while prices are expected to continue rising.
Can you pay your rent if you're upset about gendering? Will you earn more if you watch Winnetou movies? Will heating become more affordable if you listen to Layla or get excited about heat pumps or wind turbines? Will it be easier for you to get a job if 2023 people drown in the Mediterranean Sea in 500 alone, if an average of 8 people die at the EU borders every day, or if they are deported to war zones? Do you pay less when shopping if you are upset about climate activists or send death threats to daycare centers? Do fewer children suffer from poverty (every 5th child is currently threatened by it) if you get upset about drag readings?
Meanwhile:
The oil company Exxon reports record profits of 56 billion dollars in 2022. Oil giant BP also recorded more profits than ever before in 2022 of almost 26 billion euros and distributed 14 billion dollars to its shareholders. Chevron also made the highest profit in its history of $35,5 billion. German group RWE reports record profits and doubles its net profit thanks to high electricity prices.
Shell has doubled its profit in 2022. Vattenfall has increased its turnover by almost two thirds. The world's five largest oil companies posted record profits, making a combined profit of over $200 billion. Deutsche Bank and Mercedes have increased their earnings sixfold in the third quarter of 3. Dax companies paid record dividends of 2022 billion euros and will increase the payments again in 55 to 2023 billion euros. The number of millionaires in Germany increased by 75% last year. Incidentally, poor people donate more and are at a tax disadvantage compared to the rich.
Maybe you're angry at the wrong ones...?
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Propaganda | facts check | censorship
The fact-checking industry is bought and compromised
"Fact-checking" organizations have become an industrial complex of censorship. Governments and corporations remain unmolested.
In the age of social media, ever faster information transfer and the increasing influence of PR-driven information and war propaganda, independent fact-checking organizations would be extremely valuable institutions. But almost all of these “fact check” organizations now work in the service of powerful state and corporate interest groups and feign false credibility.
[...]
How did the FBI and the Pentagon, both once sworn enemies of progressives for their attacks on the Black Panthers and the peace movement, and for their warmongering and gross overfunding, come to work with NGOs and progressives? They attend campaign events together and share hors d'oeuvres at conferences hosted by oligarchs and philanthropists.
Worse, representatives of the military-industrial complex are praised in the field of digital rights ...
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Glacier | Gulf Stream | melt water
ocean currents
The great melting at the poles
More and more fresh water flows into the sea at the poles. This threatens to change the currents in the oceans, and sooner or later Europe's "central heating" could fail. A new study examined the flow conditions at the South Pole.
Anyone who knows Roland Emmerich's climate shocker "The Day After Tomorrow" still has the catastrophe scenes in their heads. In the film, a climatologist named Jack Hall narrowly survives an Antarctic expedition during which a huge ice floe breaks away from the Larsen B Ice Shelf.
[...]
The changes are being driven by the melting of Antarctica's vast ice sheets, as the fresh water draining from them dilutes the salt water. Another factor is that the water at the sea's surface is increasingly warming, which weakens another drive for sinking.
Li and England point out that their model calculations end in 2050. However, the climate will continue to warm up afterwards if greenhouse gas emissions do not fall sharply, combined with further melting of the ice sheets and thus a continued slowdown in the conveyor belt.
Normally, its function is to "ventilate the vast areas of the deep Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans" from the South Pole, they explain. "But that could soon be over. Still in our lifetime." ...
9. May
Media | Blackout | Scaremongering
What happened to all the blackout scare tactics?
Do you still know? "Rage Winter"? Blackout scaremongering in the right-wing media? CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who said a blackout was imminent in early 2023? Headlines like in "WELT" that made a blackout appear inevitable? Some, like the right-wing extremist disinformation spreader Julian Reichelt, even spoke of “thousands of deaths” that would result from this?
It probably doesn't take a detailed fact check to prove what everyone of you knows: There was not a single blackout in Germany last autumn and winter. You would have noticed. Despite the fact that Putin turned off the gas for us (no, we didn't sanction it) and we completed the nuclear phase-out planned by the Union and the FDP in April, a secure power supply in Germany. In part, the blackout scaremongering is more reminiscent of the screaming warnings about alleged "vaccination deaths" ...
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France | EDF Framatomes | Strike force
Nuclear power in France: fiasco in France
Nuclear fission was once a sign of the spirit of research among the neighbors. Today the government faces major problems but is undeterred.
While the white plumes of steam from the nuclear power plant cooling towers and nuclear power in Germany are history as a whole, France is going the opposite way - running times are being extended, six new nuclear power plants are to be built. In fact, psychologically speaking, France is a case of “escalating commitment”. One does not stray from a course once embarked on, even though it is becoming increasingly clear that this course is misleading.
Escalating commitment isn't a bad thing if you stay in the cinema even though it's clear you don't like the film, or if people stay in a relationship even though they realize they're not happy - in the end it only hurts themselves It is fatal when states stick to their decisions even though they have gone astray...
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Electricity price | Resources | Subsidies
Habeck plans new subsidies for industrial electricity
Energy and climate – compact: The industry should receive electricity at a reduced price until 2030. Environmentalists call for a resource protection law. Only one group shows why this is necessary.
Federal Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck presented a concept for a capped industrial electricity price on Friday. Accordingly, the price of electricity for certain energy-intensive companies should be limited to six cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) in the next few years.
If the average exchange electricity price for a year exceeds this value, the companies would be reimbursed the difference. With this, Habeck would like to secure the competitiveness of energy-intensive companies in this decade, as well as jobs and locations.
[...]
If industrial production is now promoted with low electricity prices, this in turn results in the consumption of resources. The automotive industry, for example, is particularly resource-intensive, and it will remain so even if one day it finally says goodbye to the production of combustion cars.
The BUND cites a future scenario by the PowerShift organization, according to which Volkswagen would need almost 2030 tons of aluminum and 800.000 tons of nickel in 250.000 for the batteries in its vehicles alone. That is ten times as much nickel and aluminum as the entire planned expansion of wind power in Germany (by 2030) - with just one company...
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Highly radioactive waste longer in Ahaus?
The fuel element interim storage facility in Ahaus will probably be needed for radioactive waste for many years to come. This is reported by representatives of the operator.
An extension of the current license for the interim storage facility is not a concern, reported the employees of the company for interim storage, BGZ. At the council meeting in Ahaus on Monday evening, they emphasized that it was necessary. Spent fuel elements are stored in the halls.
[...]
Temporary storage limited
However, the interim storage of the high-level radioactive waste is limited to 40 years. The license for storage in the fuel element interim storage facility Ahaus, BZA expires in 2036 ...
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United States | fossil industry | Methane
Environmental and climate hazard
14.000 old gas and oil wells in US waters are not adequately sealed
A research team calculated that the safe rehabilitation of the abandoned springs would cost more than 30 billion euros. Large fossil companies are mainly responsible
After carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas methane is the second greatest climate hazard. The concentration of methane in the atmosphere is increasing rapidly and has reached record levels in recent years. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, methane is responsible for around 0,5 degrees of the previous global warming of 1,2 degrees since 1880. Although methane (CH4) is much more short-lived than CO2, it is up to 80 times more harmful to the climate in the short term. Around 600 percent of the approximately 60 million tons of methane that are currently released each year can be traced back to human activities. A large proportion is accounted for by fossil fuels.
[...]
Closing all of these sources permanently would cost more than 30 billion euros, the team calculated. Closing most of these wells is the responsibility of fossil giants Chevron, Shell, Exxon Mobil, Conoco Phillips, BP, Total, and Eni plus. They could be liable for up to 88 percent of open cleanups in federal waters, the researchers calculated...
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Photovoltaics | Solar expansion | Tenant electricity
photovoltaic strategy
Fewer hurdles for solar expansion
For the immense expansion of photovoltaics, the Federal Ministry of Economics has drawn up a strategy in dialogue with the solar industry. Some of the measures are to be reflected in a draft law as Solar Package I before the summer break.
In March, the Federal Ministry of Economics presented a solar strategy - because the planned expansion should be three times the current one. To do this, many levers have to be set in motion. More than 650 statements were received by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The final version presented at a photovoltaic summit in the BMWK last week received a lot of praise.
The entire range is in eleven fields of action of the possible adjusting screws summarized. The topics range from balcony solar modules, tenant electricity, open space development to tax aspects and grid connection conditions. The cabinet is to take the form of the first part of the planned measures in a legislative package before the summer break, with the second part to follow by the end of the year.
From 2026, 11 gigawatts of power are to be installed on roofs and in open spaces. For both segments, Solar Package I contains specific changes to the currently valid regulations...
8. May
Thuringia | Climate change | climate adaptation
Funding
Only a small amount of money drawn from the climate program
The Free State provided several million euros in funding in 2022 and 2021 so that local authorities can do something to protect the climate or adapt to the consequences of climate change. Only a small part of these funds was used.
Only comparatively little money has flowed out of a municipal support program in the state for more climate protection in the past two years. A spokesman for the Thuringian Ministry of Energy said that one reason why a lot of funds had recently been left behind in the program called KlimaInvest was the consequences of the corona pandemic.
[...]
According to the ministry, a total of around 2022 million euros in funding was available through KlimaInvest in 9. However, only about 2,6 million euros were actually called up.
[...]
The relatively low use of KlimaInvest by the Thuringian municipalities also illustrates how little has been done in many municipalities and cities to combat climate change - both in combating its causes and in adapting to its consequences ...
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Nature Conservation | Extreme right | anti-democratic
How right-wing extremists exploit climate protection
Environmental protection, climate protection and nature are bridging issues between the "new" right, right-wing populist actors and neo-Nazis. The Kulturbüro Sachsen e. V shows in the annual publication "Saxony right below" the strategies with which right-wing extremists use climate and environmental protection issues for anti-democratic efforts.
"Environmental protection is homeland protection" as the NPD slogan, the "German forest" as a place of longing and nature as an alternative to modernity - nature conservation has always been part of a nationalistic and ethnic tradition in Germany. Right-wing extremists concerned with the environment are nothing new. But in recent years it has been observed how right-wing actors are increasingly strategically addressing environmental and climate protection issues. The latest brochure "Saxony right below" by the Saxony Cultural Office examines the strategies of right-wing extremists on climate and environmental issues. On March 3, the new publication was presented at a press conference.
According to specialist consultant Michael Nattke from the Saxony Cultural Office, the publication of the “new” right-wing Dresden magazine “Die Kehre-Zeitschrift für Naturschutz” in May 2020 marks a turning point. The climate discourse has finally arrived in the extreme right-wing scene...
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Letter to the editor from Merkur.de
nepotism in politics
... Habeck had excellent teachers in Bavaria, it will take him years to reach the level of nepotism in Bavaria. In the 90 years, the journalist Angela Böhm revealed that a wife was paid almost 25 euros in her husband's office to support the CSU MP from taxpayers' money. Another MP hired his 000- and 12-year-old sons just prior to the passage of the law “Baning Paid Support for Family Members in MP's Offices”. Existing employment relationships did not necessarily have to be terminated. In April 14 there were still 2010 family jobs, 19 CSU and 18 SPD. Many of these employment relationships were terminated under pressure, and the funds had to be repaid under public pressure. The mask affair is also characterized by excellent connections within the CSU (daughters Tandler, Strauss). Ms. von der Leyen CDU, who has concluded a large number of consultancy contracts, is said to have also considered her son's employer.
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Energy transition | Media | affair
The Graichen case, the media and science
Whether State Secretary Graichen has to go or not because of the best man affair is no longer decisive. One way or another, the energy transition needs a political restart.
Patrick Graichen can't be denied toughness. According to the rules of the German media world, the resignation of the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs - or his expulsion - is actually only a matter of time.
At the end of last week, a well-known magazine pulled out the ultimate argument. After that, Habeck's adherence to Graichen is now damaging the minister himself and his most important project: the energy transition.
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However, many advocates of the energy transition are still reluctant to openly criticize the Ministry of Economic Affairs. This certainly has something to do with the fact that the horrible alternative are politicians like Jens Spahn, the energy policy spokesman for the Union faction. Anyone who has heard Spahn speak on the subject of energy can only wish that he didn't even become a porter in the Ministry of Economics...
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Province of Alberta
Wildfires in Canada continue to spread
In western Canada, the forest fires continue to spread - despite several rain showers and falling temperatures. The authorities speak of more than 375.000 hectares of burnt land. Almost 30.000 people were evacuated.
Despite rain showers and falling temperatures, the fires are spreading in western Canada. The authorities announced on Sunday afternoon (local time) that more than 375.000 hectares of land had now burned in the province of Alberta. This corresponds to about a quarter the size of Schleswig-Holstein. 28 of the 107 active forest fires are out of control.
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More than 360 fires since January
According to the authorities, there have been more than 360 fires since January. This is an exceptionally high number given that May has only just begun. In 2016 Alberta had already experienced huge fires, at that time more than 2400 buildings were destroyed.
In view of climate change, experts warn that the frequency and intensity of forest fires will increase. In the prairie provinces in the west of the country, the average temperature has risen by 20 degrees Celsius since the mid-1,9th century, according to the Agency for Environment and Climate Change Canada.
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Climate protection | Post | Agora
Green cronyism and liberal climate change deniers
Behind the appointments there are actually institutes that slow down climate protection and promote LNG. What does this mean for the energy transition? And what about the FDP and Chancellor Scholz?
The reports roll over.
Patrick Graichen, former head of the Agora Energiewende and today State Secretary at Robert Habeck, is the focus.
He is accused of carrying out expert opinions and appointments in the manner of nepotism and of having given an appointment to a friend.
Whether this is actually true is for others to decide.
It is clear that many media and the opposition are now using the allegations to get the Green Climate Minister Habeck into trouble himself. From the point of view of the fossil and nuclear economy, he has already done far too much in the switch to the expansion of renewable energies.
The climate-damaging energy companies from the oil, gas, coal and nuclear sectors have become too used to the downturn in the expansion of renewable energies under Chancellor Merkel and have seen their business models as protected.
The institutions under criticism do not have ambitious climate protection goals
But I've noticed something else for years: The German Energy Agency (DENA), the Ökoinstitut and the Agora Energiewende are in the criticism of Patrick Graichen's nepotism with regard to the awarding of contracts and appointments. Exactly these institutions are considered the main advisory institutes for green energy and climate policy.
Even if these actors always emphasize that they are fully behind climate protection - they have never focused on the real needs for effective climate protection - for example on the project of 100 percent renewable energies by 2030. On the contrary, they distanced themselves from other independent researchers , e.g. the studies by Scientists for Future (S4F) or those of the Energy Watch Group: 100 percent renewable energies in all sectors by 2030 is not found in any of their reports ...
7. May
Ukraine | Chernobyl | Zaporizhia
One Chernobyl is enough
The governments in Moscow and Kiev urgently need to reach an agreement that protects the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant from attacks, all other considerations should take a back seat. One Chernobyl in Europe was enough.
Operating nuclear power plants always harbors a so-called residual risk that can make entire regions uninhabitable. Even its proponents admit it. That alone disqualifies nuclear power as a climate protector.
Operating nuclear power plants in a war zone increases the risk. But that is exactly what is happening in Ukraine - with the power plant in Zaporizhia, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian troops.
Now a new level of escalation has apparently been reached. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warns that the risk situation is becoming increasingly unpredictable and that a serious nuclear accident is imminent.
The nearby city of Enerhodar, where most of the families of the nuclear power plant personnel live, is being evacuated by the pro-Moscow regional administration, making the situation increasingly tense and nerve-wracking, according to the IAEA...
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United States | Weapons Lobby NRA | arms producers
Interview with US Governor Murphy:
"The gun lobby is extremely effective"
Phil Murphy, Governor of New Jersey and former US Ambassador in Berlin, on the epidemic of gun violence, the power of the NRA - and the responsibility of German producers.
Juliane Schäuble: Nashville, Uvalde, Sandy Hook: Again and again there are horrible "school shootings" that shock the USA. Why doesn't this lead to fundamental changes?
Phil Murphy: This is really discouraging. Congress took a number of steps in the past year that went in a positive direction. But that wasn't enough at the federal level. I'm grateful they did anything at all, but members of Congress still have a long way to go.
[...]
Many weapons in the USA were manufactured by German or Austrian companies, as a Tagesspiegel research revealed. What do you think needs to be done about it?
No matter where the manufacturers come from, we have to make sure that not only the shooters can be held accountable, but also the companies that make the assault rifles or the ammunition for them. It's a frustrating and difficult process.
Can you learn something from the fight against the cigarette industry?
I think so, yes. Weapons manufacturers have a responsibility and they need to realize that they are liable here. You cannot craft these weapons without being responsible for how they are used and who uses them.
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Vietnam | Extreme climate | record temperature
Climate crisis in Southeast Asia
Vietnam reports new heat record
Temperatures of over 40 degrees are already causing problems for the country at the beginning of summer. A Vietnamese expert warns that the extreme climate scenarios could quickly come true.
Vietnam has measured a new record temperature for the country with 44,1 degrees Celsius. The values were registered on Saturday by a weather station in the northern province of Thanh Hoa, according to the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasts. The previous record was 43,4 degrees Celsius in April 2019. The weather in Vietnam differs in the north and south, but the hottest summer months are now beginning across the country...
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Charles III to jail!
Invitation to the coronation of the British monarch. Assange in "His Majesty's Prison" in Belmarsh. Telepolis presents translation in German.
To His Majesty King Charles III,
On the occasion of my king's coronation, I thought it fitting to cordially invite you to mark this momentous occasion with a visit to your own kingdom within the kingdom: Your Majesty's prison at Belmarsh.
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687 of your loyal subjects are imprisoned here, making the UK the nation with the largest prison population in Western Europe.
As your noble government recently declared, your kingdom is witnessing "the largest expansion of prison places in over a century", with their ambitious projections calling for the prison population to increase from 82.000 to 106.000 within the next four years. That is indeed a great legacy.
As a political prisoner, held by Your Majesty's will on behalf of a humiliated foreign ruler, I am honored to live within the walls of this world-class facility...
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Groundwater | Drinking water | Dryness
consequences of drought
Little groundwater despite the rain
It rained a lot in the spring, but because of the drought in recent years, the groundwater levels remain low. Experts call for countermeasures to avoid drinking water shortages and problems for the economy.
The most recent balance sheet from the German weather service provides only a brief ray of hope: It was the wettest March in Germany for 22 years and April was even "a bit too wet" compared to long-term averages. However, this precipitation is by no means sufficient to ensure a recovery of the groundwater level in Germany, which has fallen sharply in recent years, explains Tim Staeger from the ARD weather competence center.
Groundwater trend: It's going downhill
"Seepage and groundwater formation are slow processes that take months to years," explains the meteorologist, referring to the pronounced summer drought in the years 2018 to 2022. "Here, almost 50 percent of the precipitation was missing over the summer months." Due to the high temperature level, evaporation was also very high, which caused the soil to dry out...
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Children | Climate Crisis | Temperature
Children in the climate crisis:
Dad, when will the world end?
How can we tell children about the climate crisis? As honestly as possible, says our author. Here he answers little people to big questions.
[...]
A study by an Australian university has shown that healthy people can withstand temperatures of up to 46 degrees Celsius. For older, sick or weakened people, the heat becomes a problem earlier.
[...]
The fact that we are the cause of global warming is actually good news. Because that means we can slow down the warming. To do that, we need to stop using fossil fuels as soon as possible...
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temperature sea | Sea level | El Niño
Seas warmer than ever - and El Niño is yet to come
Ocean temperatures around the world have never been higher than this April. This alarms ocean and climate researchers, because the oceans are our weather kitchen. The rising water temperatures have consequences for the whole world - and there is a risk of even higher ones.
21,1 degrees Celsius: This is how warm the oceans were on April 2 of this year on average. This is the highest sea surface temperature ever measured and exceeds the previous peak value from the heat record year 2016 by 0,1 degrees. Compared to the long-term average, temperatures in April were 0,7 degrees higher. That still doesn't seem like much and may sound quite pleasant from the point of view of country dwellers who also like to go swimming in the sea. But the researchers who keep an eye on the climate, weather and oceans feel very different when these temperature records ...
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7 May 2007 (INES 1) NPP Philipsburg, DEU
After an inspection, the safety container was not properly closed "because of an inaccurate limit switch".
Wikipedia
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernkraftwerk_Philippsburg#Weitere_Zwischenf%C3%A4lle
On May 7, 2007, another reportable event occurred in block 1: two small fittings on the personnel airlock of the containment were forgotten to be closed when starting up and nitrogen escaped during inerting. This event has been assigned to Category E (Breaking News) INES 1.
AtomkraftwerkePlag
https://atomkraftwerkeplag.fandom.com/de/wiki/Philippsburg_(Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg)
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7 May 1966 (INES 3-4) Research Institute RIAR Melekess, USSR
An accident occurred in the research reactor VK-50: A technician and the shift manager were exposed to a high dose of radiation.
AtomkraftwerkePlag
https://atomkraftwerkeplag.fandom.com/de/wiki/VK-50_Melekess_(Russland)
On May 7, 1966, an accident occurred in the research reactor VK-50: a power excursion occurred during a chain reaction of fast neutrons. The operator and the shift supervisor were exposed to a high dose of radiation...
Wikipedia
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIAR
A power excursion by fast neutrons occurred in an experimental boiling water reactor (VK-Reactor) at the Atomic Reactor Research Institute Melekess. The operator and shift supervisor received high doses of radiation...
With the VK-50 in Melekess, the boiling water reactor concept of the USA was also briefly adopted in the 1960s, which, however, came to an abrupt end after two years with a serious accident...
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_kerntechnischen_Anlagen_in_Russland#Geschichte
Nuclear power accidents by country#Russia
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Current news+
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Ukraine war | Uranium ammunition
Is the West turning Ukraine into a nuclear battlefield?
The use of depleted uranium will create an even deadlier radioactive theater of war – and Ukraine will end up paying a heavy price for it.
It's going to be a bloody spring in Ukraine. Russia's winter offensive fell far short of Vladimir Putin's goals, so there is little doubt that the Western arsenal is helping Ukraine's defenses. Ceasefire negotiations never really started, and NATO has only bolstered its forces thanks to the new membership of Finland (and Sweden, which is likely to follow soon). Yet tens of thousands have died, entire villages and even towns have been reduced to rubble, millions of Ukrainians have poured into Poland and other countries, while Russia's brutal invasion rages on with no end in sight.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes Western allies will continue to provide money, tanks, missiles and anything else his battered country needs to hold off Putin's forces. According to Zelensky, the war will not be won through backroom compromises, but on the battlefield with weapons and ammunition.
"I appeal to you and the world with these simple yet so important words," he told a joint session of Britain's Parliament in February. "Fighters for Ukraine, Wings for Freedom."
The UK, which has pledged well over $2 billion in aid to Ukraine, has so far refused to ship fighter jets there but has pledged to supply more weapons, including depleted uranium (DU) tank shells, also known as "radioactive Bullets". DU, a by-product of uranium enrichment, is a very dense and radioactive metal that, when housed in small torpedo-like projectiles, can penetrate heavily armored tanks and other vehicles.
In response to the British announcement, Putin ominously declared that he would "act accordingly" if Ukrainians fired DU munitions.
While Britain's decision to send depleted uranium shells to Ukraine is unlikely to affect the outcome of the war, it will have lasting, potentially devastating effects on soldiers, civilians and the environment. The controversial use of DU poses nowhere near the same risks as the actual nuclear weapons that Putin and his allies have hinted might one day be used in Ukraine, or a possible meltdown at the embattled Zaporizhia nuclear facility. Still, their use will certainly help create an even deadlier, literally radioactive, theater of war—and Ukraine will pay a heavy price for it in the end.
The radioactive lions of Babylon
Stuart Dyson survived service in the first Gulf War in 1991, where he served as a corporal in Britain's Royal Pioneer Corps. His job in Kuwait was simple: to help clean "dirty" tanks after they'd been used in combat. Many of the machines he spent hours scrubbing had loaded and fired depleted uranium shells designed to penetrate and disable Iraqi T-72 tanks, better known as the Lions of Babylon.
Dyson spent five months in this war zone, making sure the American and British tanks were cleaned, armed and battle-ready. When the war ended, he returned home hoping to put his time in the Gulf War behind him. He found a decent job, got married and had children. But his health was deteriorating rapidly, and he became convinced that his military service was to blame. Like so many others who had served in that conflict, Dyson suffered from a mysterious and debilitating illness that later became known as Gulf War Syndrome.
After Dyson had suffered for years from strange ailments ranging from headaches to dizziness to muscle tremors, doctors discovered he was suffering from a serious case of colon cancer that quickly spread to his spleen and liver. The prognosis was grim, and after a brief struggle, his body finally gave out. Stuart Dyson died in 2008 at the age of 39.
His story is unique not because he was the only Gulf War veteran to die of such cancer at a young age, but because his cancer was later recognized in court as resulting from exposure to depleted uranium. In a landmark 2009 verdict, a jury at Smethwick Council House in the UK found that Dyson's cancer was caused by the accumulation of depleted uranium in his body, particularly in his internal organs.
| Current news+ | Background knowledge |
Background knowledge
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The map of the nuclear world
Wikipedia: While uranium ammunition is known to be stockpiled by 21 countries (USA, Russia, UK, China, Sweden, Netherlands, Greece, France, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, Thailand, South Korea and Japan; uranium munitions have been used to combat armored vehicles since the mid-1970s), only one country, the United States, has so far admitted to using these munitions in war maneuvers. Recently, several thousand tons of uranium ammunition were mainly used in the Second Gulf War (320 tons), in Yugoslavia, Bosnia, in the Kosovo War, in the Iraq War and in the Syrian Civil War. During a three-week operation in the Iraq war in 2003 alone, between 1000 and 2000 tons of uranium ammunition were used by the "coalition of the willing".
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The internal search for
Ukraine war | Uranium ammunition
brought the following results, among others:
March 25, 2023 - What uranium ammunition would do to Ukraine
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December 1, 2016 - Pentagon confirms use of uranium ammunition in Syria
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The Uranium Story - Fissile Atoms Half-Life
YouTube
Keyword search: uranium ammunition
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Uranmunition
Videos:
US Army Training Manual - 0:59
Uranium ammunition - Nato nuclear waste shot
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ZDF planet e - 29:21
Sardinia's deadly secret (uranium ammunition, thorium)
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Frieder F. Wagner - 1:32:12
Deadly Dust - uranium ammunition and its consequences
Playlist - radioactivity worldwide ...
This playlist contains over 150 videos on the topic
Ecosia
This search engine is planting trees!
Keyword search: uranium ammunition
https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=Uranmunition
BfS - Federal Office for Radiation Protection
Radiation effects of depleted uranium
Compared to natural uranium, depleted uranium has a slightly lower radiotoxic potential. For an assessment of the health effects of uranium, the possibilities of radiation exposure through the intake of uranium particles through the breathing air, through ingestion of uranium-contaminated food and drinking water and through injuries to the skin must be considered.
The greatest risk of exposure to ammunition containing uranium is when the uranium particles released immediately upon impact and combustion of the ammunition are inhaled and thus enter the lungs. But even later, the uranium dust can be whirled up again from the ground and get into the lungs. The lung tissue can be damaged by the alpha radiation from uranium. This damage can lead to lung cancer after many years ...
AtomkraftwerkePlag
Uranium ammunition
Depleted uranium weapons
Uranium ammunition (also called uranium weapons or uranium projectiles) refers to weapons that contain depleted uranium (DU). Due to the high density of uranium, such weapons have a high penetrating power and are therefore used against tanks, for example. In addition, when hitting the target, intense heat is generated, which ignites tank fuel and ammunition...
Wikipedia
Uranium ammunition
Uranium ammunition, also DU ammunition (from English depleted uranium), is armor-piercing ammunition whose projectiles contain depleted uranium. Due to the high density (≈19,1 g/cm³) of uranium, these projectiles develop great penetrating power when they hit the target. Compared to natural uranium, the depleted uranium consists to a lesser extent of the fissile uranium isotope 235U and thus mainly of the isotope 238U, which cannot be fissile by thermal neutrons. The radioactivity of the depleted uranium (the α-radiation activity of 15.000 Bq/g is about 40% lower than that of natural uranium) does not serve any military purpose in this case...
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Newsletter XVIII 2023 - April 30th to May 6th
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