Newsletter XXXI 2023
30. July to 05. August
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Nuclear Power Accidents
This PDF file contains a list of known incidents from the various areas of the civil and military nuclear industry. Some of this information only came to the public in a roundabout way...
Excerpt for this month:
August 1, 1983 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Pickering, CAN
August 2, 1992 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Pickering, CAN
August 4, 2005 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Indian Point, USA
August 6, 1945 (1. US dropping atomic bomb) Hiroshima, USA
August 9, 2009 (INES 1 Class.?) NPP Gravelines, FRA
August 9, 2004 (INES 1 Class.?) NPP Mihama, JPN
August 9, 1945 (2. US dropping atomic bomb) Nagasaki, USA
August 10, 1985 (INES 5) Submarine K-31/K-431, USSR
August 12, 2001 (INES 2) NPP Phillipsburg, DEU
August 12, 2000, Submarine K-141_Kursk, RUS
August 18, 2015 (INES 2) NPP Blayais, FRA
August 19, 2008 (INES 1) NPP Santa Maria de Garona, ESP
August 21, 2007 (INES 2) NPP Beznau, CHE
August 21, 1945 (INES 4) T Undlicher Unfall in Los Alamos, USA
August 25, 2008 (INES 3) IRE Fleurus, BEL
August 29, 1949 (1. USSR atomic bomb test) Semipalatinsk, KAZ
August 30, 2003, Submarine K-159, RUS
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We are looking for current information. If you can help, please send a message to: nukleare-welt@reaktorpleite.de
5. August
Sun | gamma rays | Cherenkov radiation
The sun shines much brighter than previously thought
A new study baffles science. It shows that the Sun's gamma-ray energy could be as high as ten trillion electron volts. This raises more questions than can be answered.
A research team from Michigan State University (MSU) in the US, led by astrophysicist Mehr Un Nisa, has found that the sun emits up to ten teraelectronvolts (TeV). The researchers did not expect that.
[...] “Currently, the discovery raises more questions than answers. Solar researchers will now puzzle over how exactly these gamma rays reach such high energies and what role the Sun's magnetic fields play in this phenomenon," the research team admits.
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taxpayer, tax money and tax evader
How the rich can evade five trillion US dollars
Alarming study by the Tax Justice Network. Tax fraud by the wealthy and corporations unchecked. It would be easy to change that.
Worldwide, governments could lose nearly five trillion U.S. dollars in tax revenue over the next ten years because multinational corporations and wealthy individuals use tax havens to avoid paying taxes. This is the conclusion reached by the London-based organization Tax Justice Network in a new study.
The future loss of public money is equivalent to one year's worth of global healthcare spending. The organization is therefore urging governments worldwide to vote at the United Nations General Assembly this winter to begin negotiations on a UN tax convention to avert these astronomical losses...
4. August
Fossil | Subsidies | Emissions trading
Germany spends 70 billion euros in tax money every year to promote fossil instead of renewable energies
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), subsidies for fossil fuels in Germany are still unbearably high at 1,9 percent of economic output. This corresponds to 70 billion euros per year, as the German Institute for Economics (DIW) recently described in an article.
This means that each of the 2022 million tons of CO746 emitted in Germany in 2 was subsidized with almost 100 euros.
On average, emissions trading prices in 2022 were only 80 euros per tonne.
How is climate protection ever supposed to work if the subsidies are higher than the costs for the CO2 emission certificates?
Nothing is heard from the FDP, which according to its own statements is always committed to reducing state subsidies...
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Lubmin | nuclear waste barrels | Corrosion
During dismantling in Lubmin
Rust discovered on drums of radioactive waste
Defective waste barrels have turned up at the former nuclear power plant in Lubmin, which is currently being dismantled. Rust was found on them. According to those responsible, there is no danger. But recently there was a similar problem.
A reportable event occurred at the disposal plant for nuclear plants GmbH (EWN) in Greifswald/Lubmin. Corrosion was found on three barrels for storing radioactive waste that was to be dried in a facility, the Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian Ministry of the Environment announced on Friday in Schwerin. The barrels were filled with wet mud.
It was said that one of the barrels had rust through during the inspection of the damaged area. A release of radioactive substances outside the controlled area was excluded at all times. “People and the environment were never in danger. The corroded barrels were immediately repackaged in securely closed containers," it said...
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August 4, 2005 (INES ? Class.?) Indian Point, USA
Tritium and strontium leaked from the Indian Point nuclear plant on the Hudson River from 1974 to 2005.
AtomkraftwerkePlag
Nuclear power station Indian Point (USA)
Nuclear power plant near New York
The Indian Point nuclear power plant is considered to be particularly dangerous because it is located just 56 kilometers north of the center of New York City, directly in an area where fault lines intersect. In 2001, the terrorist organization al-Qaeda was apparently planning a September 11, 2001 attack on Indian Point. Had this been done, it is estimated that 43.700 people would have died instantly and 518.000 would have developed cancer. The cleanup and cleanup would have cost $XNUMX trillion...
Wikipedia
Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant
Reactor block 1 was in operation for 12 years (1962 to 1974).
Unit 2 was in operation for 46 years (1974 to 2020).
The Indian Point nuclear power plant is located in a comparatively seismically active area and has also been considered at risk of terrorism since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, since it is located on the flight routes of commercial aircraft. After September 11, 2001, it was tested whether the containment would withstand an airplane crash or an attack. The results showed that there are scenarios in which this is not the case and the continued safe operation of the nuclear power plant would therefore be endangered. The future of the power plant is also disputed with regard to repeated operational accidents.
On February 6, 2016, the governor of the US state of New York announced that "alarmingly high" radiation levels had been detected at the nuclear power plant; Apparently, tritium-contaminated water leaked from the power plant. Up to 296 Bq per liter were measured in the groundwater of neighboring towns, the limit is 0,45 Bq. The nuclear power plant is only about 40 km away from New York...
3. August
Dear friends,
here again the memory of the next two protest actions in Gronau and Ahaus:
Gronau: Now Sunday, August 6, 13.30:XNUMX p.m. vigil in front of the UAA for Hiroshima Day.
The announcement by Urenco that they want to expand the UAA in the USA by 2025 is completely new. Something similar is also threatening in Gronau. The UTD technology department is already getting a new headquarters on the Gronau site. In addition, in 2024 there is a risk that the large uranium waste hall will be put into operation after a ten-year delay. The NRW state government has so far refused any information on this.
Ahaus: On Sunday, August 20th, at 14 p.m., there will be a rally in front of the "Mahner" in the pedestrian zone.
It's about the planned Castor transports from Jülich to Ahaus, which were tested last month. Another “test” is to follow in October. The BI and several other Inis have already announced resistance to this.
The BI in Ahaus has now written to MP Wüst after Nuclear Minister Neubaur (Greens). Neubaur is also stonewalling in Ahaus, but of course had time for Rheinmetall to be present at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new weapons factory yesterday...
Nuclear-free climate greetings
SOFA Munster
www.sofa-ms.de
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France colonial past and orans uranium mines
Niger is also about uranium and exploitation
Niger is the seventh largest producer of uranium, but three quarters of its people are not connected to the electricity grid.
There is not a single active gold mine in France. Nevertheless, this formerly criminal colonial state has the fourth largest gold reserves in the world with 2 tons.
The former French colony of Mali owns exactly 0,0 tons of gold, although there are several dozen mines in the country, including 14 official ones. A total of 70 tons of it are mined there every year. Of the income from almost 60 tons of gold, which are mined by (estimated) 600 children in the former French colony of Burkina Faso, only 000 percent goes to the country, but 10 percent to multinational gold diggers.
The situation with uranium is similar to that of gold: France closed the last of its 210 uranium mines in 2001. Since then, all the problems associated with uranium mining, which is harmful to the environment and health, including the dangers of radioactive contamination, have been exported elsewhere as a precaution...
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CO2 emissions | Cement | 3D Print
Geopolymer instead of cement: New recipe for CO₂-free mortar for 3D printing
A new mortar for the 3D printing of buildings causes almost no greenhouse gases during production. It should also be more robust and cheaper.
The production of concrete causes around eight percent of global CO2 emissions. 3D printing of buildings promises – at least in theory – an improvement: since the walls and ceilings can be designed to be more load-bearing, they require less material.
However, there is also an opposite effect: Since the mortar has to set very quickly with 3D printing, it needs a higher proportion of cement that hardens quickly - and this is particularly harmful to the climate. The bottom line is that 3D-printed concrete often causes more greenhouse gases than conventional ones.
"The critics of 3D printing are currently still right," says Thorsten Stengel, professor of building materials and construction chemistry at Munich University of Applied Sciences. "But the research is definitely going in the direction of using fewer binding agents."
An example of this is the Texas start-up Hive3D. It has presented a low-carbon mortar for 2D printing with its partners Eco Material and Green Cement. It is said to reduce the CO3 footprint by 2 percent compared to conventional mortar - and at the same time be cheaper and more robust...
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Nuclear waste | Repository | Konrad shaft
Nuclear Waste Storage Plan
Delayed another 17 years
The site for the storage of low-level and intermediate-level radioactive nuclear waste is still open. There is hardly any space in the Konrad shaft.
GOETTINGEN taz | The search for a repository for the highly radioactive nuclear waste has been delayed by many years. The Federal Agency for EndRepository (BG), which is in charge here, recently announced that the location will not be fixed in 2031, as provided for by law, but in 2046 at the earliest. Another scenario even envisages a time corridor up to 2068. The debate falls far short, say nuclear power opponents. They are concerned about the whereabouts of the low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste - and therefore want to focus more on the topic.
Dealing with this category of nuclear waste is "a major problem that has not been discussed much so far," says the spokesman for the citizens' initiative (BI) for environmental protection Lüchow-Dannenberg, Wolfgang Ehmke...
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Mexico | oil production | oil slick
beaches contaminated
Remnants of a huge oil slick reach the coasts of Mexico
A huge oil slick is drifting in the Gulf of Mexico - and the oil is now spilling onto the beaches of Mexico. Environmental activists say it came from an oil rig that had problems. But the operators disagree.
According to official information, the foothills of an oil slick covering more than 100 square kilometers have reached numerous beaches on the Gulf of Mexico. The oil in the sea "distributed to all the beaches of the Gulf," said the deputy prosecutor for environmental crimes in the southeastern Mexican state of Campeche, Alejandro Brown Gantús. As early as mid-July, several Mexican non-governmental organizations (NGOs) had pointed out the oil leak and complained about the "complete lack of transparency" on the part of the authorities.
[...] Several NGOs, including Greenpeace, had already reported on July 18th of a 400 square kilometer oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico. The organizations had located him near an oil platform where there was an explosion and fire on July 7 that killed two workers. According to the NGOs, the oil leak was already noticeable on July 4th...
2. August
Windmill | CO₂ emission | Building material
Height of 1.500 meters possible
Highest wooden pinwheel is more stable than steel
The world's tallest wooden wind turbine is currently being built in Sweden. The wind power plant is more stable than steel for the same weight and has a negative CO₂ balance.
Skara (Sweden). The Swedish start-up Modvion has developed a modular wind turbine whose tower is made of wood. The energy company Varberg Energi is currently having the world's tallest wooden wind turbine built around 130 kilometers east of Gothenburg on the basis of the system. The wooden tower of the plant is to reach a height of 105 meters and the total height including the turbine and the rotor blades is 150 meters.
The foundation of the wooden windmill was already erected in early 2023. Now the individual wooden modules of the tower are assembled. According to Varberg Energi, the wooden wind turbine should start producing electricity this year. The output of two megawatts is enough to supply around 500 households in Sweden with electricity...
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Oppenheimer, military-industrial complex and the Nuclear lobby
The beneficiaries of Armageddon
Oppenheimer and the birth of the nuclear-industrial complex.
If you haven't been hiding behind a rock for the past few months, you no doubt know that award-winning director Christopher Nolan has released a new film about Robert Oppenheimer, known as the "father of the atomic bomb" because he led the group of scientists who developed this deadly weapon as part of America's WWII Manhattan Project.
[...] A feature film about the creation of nuclear weapons may not be an obvious candidate for a box office hit. As Nolan's teenage son said when his father told him he was thinking about making such a film: "Sure, no one's really afraid of nuclear weapons anymore. Will people care?" Nolan responded that, given what's at stake, he worries about complacency and even denial when it comes to the global risks posed by the planet's nuclear arsenals. “You normalize the killing of tens of thousands of people. You create moral equivalences, false equivalences with other kinds of conflicts... [and] thus accept, normalize... the danger.”
[...] At the global level, the entry into force of a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2021 – officially known as the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – is a sign of hope, even if nuclear-weapon states have yet to join. The very existence of such a treaty at least helps to delegitimize nuclear weapons. He even led dozens of major financial institutions to stop investing in the nuclear weapons industry under pressure from campaigns like Don't Bank on the Bomb.
In truth, the situation couldn't be simpler: we must abolish nuclear weapons before they abolish us. It is hoped that Oppenheimer will help lay the groundwork for progress in this all-important endeavor, starting with an open discussion of what is at stake now.
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Climate protection | Energy transition | CO2 | Emissions trading
Combustion off, green energy: Economists disagree with Hans-Werner Sinn
Hans-Werner Sinn, former President of the Ifo Institute, considers the government's energy policy to be counterproductive. This is met with criticism from colleagues.
Energy transition and climate protection, as pursued by the federal government, only made the situation worse. With this criticism, the economist and former President of the Ifo Institute, Hans-Werner Sinn, found a place in the tabloid "Bild" - and also a wide range of echoes among colleagues and in the Federal Ministry of Economics. This did not want to comment directly on Sinn's criticism to heise online, but refers, among other things, to an "overestimated influence" of the shut down German nuclear power plants on the price of electricity.
Moritz Schularick, President of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, does not consider Sinn's thesis that CO₂ emissions in Europe have increased due to Germany's nuclear phase-out and coal burning to be tenable. European emissions trading works, said Schularick according to the FAZ. In many areas, green energies are already so competitive that they would displace fossil fuels elsewhere in the world...
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uranium and rare earth are the most desirable Raw materials in Greenland south
Raw materials for the transformation:
Greenland relies on rare earths
A huge deposit of the coveted metals is stored on the Arctic island. With the current demand, an expensive exploitation would also be worthwhile.
STOCKHOLM taz | It is intended to break China's monopoly position and at the same time create brilliant prospects for investors - this is what the Australian mining company Tanbreez says about its new mining project: it wants to mine rare earths. And that in Greenland, where the project raises hopes that the income from mining mineral resources could provide the economic basis that is still lacking for independence from Denmark. More than half of the global reserves of the coveted metals are said to be located here. The project is scheduled to be implemented as early as 2024.
Greenland and Denmark are also threatened with high claims for damages if the mining company Energy Transition Minerals is successful in arbitration proceedings in Copenhagen. The uranium ban passed in November 2021 made it impossible for her to continue the Kuannersuit project. Two weeks ago the company filed a lawsuit against the governments in Nuuk and Copenhagen. The damage suffered is “provisionally” estimated at $11,5 billion. What the company probably wants to achieve with this process: to get a mining permit after all.
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Renewables | Wind turbines | Participation | mandatory
Countries want to involve municipalities in wind power
In the future, local residents could share in the profits from wind power. Several federal states are working on corresponding laws. Does that increase the acceptance of wind turbines on your own doorstep?
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg were the first with so-called participation regulations for the construction of wind turbines. In this way, the operators are to be obliged to let municipalities in particular, but also citizens, participate in the profits from wind power.
The Federal Constitutional Court paved the way for this last year. In the case of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the judges ruled that an "obligation for residents and communities close to the site to participate in wind farms is permissible in principle".
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Energy prices | Energy consumption | Economy
Energy consumption falls by 7,1 percent in the first half of the year
High prices and the weakening economy caused electricity and gas consumption to fall in the first six months. At the same time, the share of green energy increased slightly.
Energy consumption in Germany fell by 7,1 percent in the first half of the year. This emerges from a report by the Working Group on Energy Balances. According to their assessment, the continued high energy prices in combination with the weak economy are responsible for the "considerable decline".
According to the report, although prices have fallen noticeably compared to the first half of 2022, their level is still significantly higher than in 2021. "The energy prices thus continue to develop impulses to save energy, albeit with a slightly weaker intensity." In addition, energy-intensive sectors such as chemicals, metals, paper and glass have significantly reduced their production...
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NASA | Lockheed | Bwx | HALEU | DARPA | nuclear propulsion
drive of the future
NASA's first nuclear-powered rocket is set to launch in 2027
The US space agency is working with the Darpa on a mission to ensure significantly more efficient travel through space
[...] As announced by the US space agency and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), a US agency for military research projects, the US wants to have the world's first nuclear-powered spacecraft on its maiden flight into orbit in four years send. The approximately $500 million (455 million euros) mission is called Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (Draco) and is based on a technique that, according to official figures, could ideally take astronauts to Mars in just 45 days.
[...] The scientist did not comment further on the danger of the flying nuclear reactor crashing, for example if something were to go wrong during take-off or during the flight into the target orbit.
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August 2, 1992 (INES ? Class.?) Pickering, CAN
Ontario's Nuclear Generating Facilities - English - PDF file
Page No. 8 - Safety Issues at the Pickering “A” Nuclear Station
August 2, 1992 - Pickering Reactor 1 suffered a severe water leak from a heat exchanger, leaking 2300 trillion becquerels of radioactive tritium into Lake Ontario. This was the worst tritium leak in Canada and resulted in elevated levels of tritium in the drinking water of Toronto and along the shoreline of Lake Ontario from Whitby to Burlington...
Translated with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Wikipedia en
Pickering A1
Nuclear power accidents by country#Canada
A severe spill of 2300 trillion becquerels of radioactive tritium into Lake Ontario, resulting in elevated tritium levels in Toronto's drinking water...
Pickering Nuclear Generating Station#Incidents
Translated with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
AtomkraftwerkePlag
The grassroots organization Sierra Club Canada protested against the lifetime extension in 2013 and called for the nuclear power plant to be shut down immediately due to aging, increasing radiation and increasing release of tritium. In June 2010, for example, unexpected beta-gamma radiation from reactors 5 to 8 was released into the water.
On March 17, 2011, 73.000 liters of water, slightly contaminated with tritium, flowed into Lake Ontario because of a sealing problem at a pump. The operator and supervisory authority described the risks as "negligible".
In January 2012, according to the Sierra Club, the "broken" reactor 4 leaked contaminated water due to a leak ...
1. August
France | Orano | uranium deposits
Niger coup: According to the nuclear power company, uranium deliveries are not at risk
The nuclear power company Orano said the supply of France with uranium, an important raw material for the production of nuclear energy, is not at risk after the Nigerien authorities announced that they would freeze exports to France.
In the coup that has been unfolding for a week, Niger Army General Abdourahamane Tiani overthrew and captured democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum on Wednesday (July 26).
French President Emmanuel Macron, like other leaders, condemned the violent seizure of power and declared that any "attack on France and its interests" "cannot be tolerated"....
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AfD, Union and "vermin": Of course, the bourgeoisie
Fascism is often portrayed as the attitude of the rabble and the uneducated. But for right-wing populists, they are just a flywheel. How pseudo-left class hatred from above benefits them.
Most recently, it was the CSU politician and ex-Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer who embarrassed the political camp, which is often described as bourgeois, with a "vermin" quote in connection with poverty migration. The left spoke of "flawless hate speech" and called on Ramsauer to give up his mandate in the Bundestag.
[...] The AfD is not an alien or a foreign body, but flesh of the flesh of the system. No matter how much it presents itself as an anti-establishment party.
Denying her anything bourgeois might even help the AfD to get votes from people whose interests it does not represent at all in economic and socio-political terms - those from real "chavs" who feel left behind and excluded. But they are also just a flywheel for the AfD.
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Turkey | Aegean | climate active in Akbelen-Ikizkoy
Climate activism in Türkiye:
The Lützerath of the Aegean is cleared
Activists wanted to prevent the expansion of Turkish coal mining in Akbelen Forest. Now the police and clearing troops rolled on.
ISTANBUL taz | Dawn breaks when the raid on the resistance camp begins. A large police force arrives to surround the camp while providing cover for hundreds of workers who are advancing in piecework towards Akbelen Forest. Supporters mobilized via telephone chains were stopped kilometers before the camp. The mobile phone connection between the activists in the camp and their comrades-in-arms was also interrupted by electronic jamming. Deforestation can begin.
It's not just about the forest itself. The resistance camp in Akbelen was founded a good two years ago to prevent the expansion of lignite mining in the hills along the Aegean coast. Four villages, the forest of Akbelen and centuries-old olive groves are to disappear so that the huge scavengers from the above-ground coal mines can eat their way further into the landscape.
First of all, the olive farmers opposed the plans of the lignite company YK Enerji, a subsidiary of Limak Holding, one of the five large corporations said to have the closest ties to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The spokeswoman for the villagers, Necla Işık, became known throughout Turkey when she opposed the group. Activists from the provincial capital Mugla, the next largest city Milas and from the well-known coastal town Bodrum supported the villagers with legal expertise and ensured good public relations...
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Armaments | Rheinmetall | invisibility cloaks | fighter jet
Hardly any criticism - hope for the region: Rheinmetall builds fighter jets in Weeze
The symbolic groundbreaking ceremony for a new factory for the Rheinmetall armaments group took place in Weeze on Tuesday. The company wants to manufacture F-35 fighter jet parts there. Criticism has hardly been heard so far.
Almost a year and a half after the start of the Ukraine war, a German armaments company is investing in a new factory for the first time in order to process an order from the Bundeswehr's 100 billion euro special fund. According to Rheinmetall, a "highly modern factory" is planned on an area of 60.000 square meters. The construction costs are around 200 million euros.
The area of the factory is roughly the size of eight football pitches. It will be built on the site of Weezer Airport. Rheinmetall wants to manufacture parts for American stealth bombers there...
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United States | Westinghouse | Cost increase | AP1000
High additional costs and delay
First new US nuclear power plant in decades goes online
For some it's a forward-looking breakthrough, for others it's a cautionary tale: In the USA, the first newly built nuclear reactor has been connected to the grid for over 30 years. The executive group perished in the construction.
In the US state of Georgia, the first completely redesigned nuclear power reactor has gone online in more than 30 years. With its 3 megawatts, the Vogtle 1100 nuclear power plant should be able to supply an estimated 500.000 households and companies with electricity. Kim Greene, chief executive of Georgia Power, hailed the new reactor as an "impressive example" of Georgia's reliable and resilient energy future, despite years of delays and immense costs. The US has the most nuclear power plants in the world...
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August 1, 1983 (INES ? Class.?) Pickering, CAN
Wikipedia en
Pickering A2
Pickering Nuclear Generating Station#Incidents
On August 1, 1983, there was an accident with loss of coolant in Pickering reactor 2 after a meter-long crack developed in a pressure pipe. The plant was shut down and Pickering A's four reactors were eventually re-cased at a cost of around $1 billion...
Nuclear power accidents by country#Canada
Translated with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
AtomkraftwerkePlag
On March 17, 2011, 73.000 liters of water, slightly contaminated with tritium, flowed into Lake Ontario because of a sealing problem at a pump. The operator and supervisory authority described the risks as "negligible".
In January 2012, according to the Sierra Club, the "broken" reactor 4 leaked contaminated water due to a leak ...
Safety Issues at the Pickering “A” Nuclear Station - Page No. 8 -
Ontario's Nuclear Generating Facilities - English - PDF file
Translate with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
31 July
Emissions trading | CO2 tax | Climate money
European emissions trading
Germany takes almost four billion euros
In the first half of the year, Germany received almost 3,9 billion euros from the sale of greenhouse gas pollution allowances in European emissions trading. The total is 14 percent above the previous year's result and represents a new record, reported the German Emissions Trading Authority in Berlin.
The average proceeds per certificate amounted to EUR 87 11 in the first half of the year; the previous year's value was estimated at 80 euros 32 . The emission of one tonne of carbon dioxide is permitted per certificate.
The funds raised are used to promote climate-friendly modernization, the expansion of the charging infrastructure for e-mobility and the development of the hydrogen industry.
[...] In the national system, the CO2 tax is collected by gas and coal suppliers or companies in the mineral oil industry.
Because the companies pass on the additional costs, the end consumer prices also increase. In order to create a social balance, the SPD, Greens and FDP have agreed on a so-called climate money in the coalition agreement. When it comes is still unclear...
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Renewables | Bureaucracy | fossil energy companies
How renewable energies are systematically slowed down
Germany could switch to sun and wind by 2030. But bureaucracy and fossil energy companies slow down the pace. What needs to change.
Renewable energies must cover the entire energy requirement by 2030 in order to have any chance of limiting global warming to a maximum of two degrees Celsius. The devastating heat waves that are already happening in southern Europe and other regions today occur with global warming of 1,2 degrees.
One can only guess what the situation will be like if the global temperature rises by two degrees. A realization of 100 percent renewable energy by 2030 would be quite possible if the pace of growth were similar to that in other technology areas, especially in the area of digitization, where technologies such as personal computers, mobile communications and smartphones have conquered the world markets in less than a decade.
Unfortunately, the current growth rates for renewable energies, both worldwide and in Germany, are far from achieving this goal. Only China comes close to the necessary speed with a doubling of the expansion of renewable energies every two years...
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Car toll | Compensation | negligence
Failed car toll:
Experts should determine "the degree of negligence" at Scheuer
243 million euros - that's how much the federal government has to pay as a result of the bursting of the car toll. Minister of Transport Wissing is now examining thoroughly whether something can be obtained from his predecessor.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing wants to have possible claims for damages against his predecessor Andreas Scheuer (CSU) because of the bursting of the car toll thoroughly clarified. "We can't just put the file aside at 243 million euros," said the FDP politician to the German Press Agency, with a view to the federal government's due payments to the toll operators that were once planned. A claim to Scheuer should therefore be examined carefully. "We're having an external report drawn up to clarify legal issues. Ultimately, this isn't a political question, it's a legal question. To do this, the degree of negligence must be examined." It will take some time until the report is finished...
30 July
EU Commission | Greenwashing | Kerosene lobby
Airline lobbying in emissions trading:
Pretty thin air
Air travel will also become part of EU emissions trading. But the particularly climate-damaging long-haul flights are excluded from this.
[...] To understand the significance of excluding intercontinental and long-haul flights, it is worth taking a look at statistics from the European Organization for the Safety of Aviation, to which 41 European countries belong. Only 2020 percent of departures from their airports in 6,2 were flights of more than 4.000 kilometers - but these were responsible for 51,9 percent of emissions. A further 19,2 percent of flights had a distance of 1.500 to 4.000 kilometers, which in Europe means in the vast majority of cases that you leave the continent. They accounted for another 23,2 percent of kerosene consumption.
[...] And yet the EU has exempted long-haul flights and private jets from the new EU climate protection requirement. For the environmental NGO Robin Wood, this is “a consequence of industry lobbying.” Because they made the exceptions - above all Lufthansa and the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry (BDL), which it dominates...
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Italy | severe weather | devastation
Heavy damage after storms in South Tyrol
Destroyed bridges, roads and cars: A storm caused severe devastation in South Tyrol on Saturday evening. Apparently nobody was injured. The clean-up work is ongoing – and the next storms are already expected.
Heavy storms with heavy rain and gusts of wind raged in South Tyrol on Saturday evening. The short but intense thunderstorms caused severe damage in parts of Italy's northernmost province. In some areas, bridges were swept away by the water masses in streams, and a scree avalanche fell below the Gardena Pass in the Dolomites.
Bach becomes a torrent - enormous damage
In Olang in the east of South Tyrol, for example, streams developed into torrents - several wooden bridges were swept away by the water masses...
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Greenland rare earth in the ice free south
Greenland mine plans to deliver large quantities of rare earths from 2024
So far, China has dominated the global rare earth market. But Greenland could shake the balance of power as early as next year. The Tanbreez mine is then scheduled to start production.
The western world could become independent of rare earths from China faster than many expected: The owners of a large deposit in southwest Greenland plan to mine rare earths, which are indispensable for electronic components, from 2024 onwards. "We can start production as early as next year," said Greg Barnes, geologist and private owner of Tanbreez Mining, in an interview with WirtschaftsWoche. Greenland's deputy mining minister, Jørgen Hammeken-Holm, confirmed to the magazine that a mining permit had been issued...
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Friedrich Merz's grandfather
The Brilon mayor Josef Paul Sauvigny (1875-1967), the "unification of all German blood" in 1933 and a forerunner of the CDU party history.
The Sauerland Friedrich Merz leads the Christian Democratic party in Germany – at one new course, as many welcome and not a few fear. Two decades ago there was a lively public debate because Merz described his "right-wing Catholic" grandfather Josef Paul Sauvigny (Brilon's mayor until 1937) as an admirable role model and downright flaunted his ignorant understanding of history. He had to backtrack a bit after that critical journalists (including taz, Die Zeit), relevant newspaper sources and the Denazification File of the famous ancestor had sighted.
Many millions of Germans have grandfathers who served the Nazis. This is not a personal flaw. The only decisive question is how you personally relate to these ancestors. Based on the sources, this article is intended to show why in the case of Josef Paul Sauvigny clarifications are needed that go well beyond relativizing the uncritically adopted family legends: Not only was his grandfather “not a role model”, but his behavior as a politician is clearly one of the repulsive examples in a dark precursor chapter of the CDU party history...
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Current news+
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EU Commission | Civil protection | Forest fires
Brussels buys more fire-fighting planes to fight forest fires
The EU Commission has announced the purchase of XNUMX new aircraft to increase the capacity of its fleet for firefighting in southern European countries.
The twelve "Canadair" aircraft are fully funded by the EU but based and owned in Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
"We recently achieved a breakthrough with a potential manufacturer of the most sought-after Canadair aircraft to restart global production," EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič told Euronews.
"We will be able to further increase the EU firefighting air fleet (...) to respond to such intense fires that are becoming the new normal," he added.
However, these new aircraft will not be available until the 2027 wildfire season.
This comes at a time when wildfires are raging in the Mediterranean and North Africa, forcing thousands to evacuate their homes. At least 40 people died.
This month, both Greece and Tunisia activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, allowing them to ask other countries for help fighting fires. Since July 18, around 500 firefighters and nine firefighting planes have been deployed to Greece and Tunisia.
More than 180.000 hectares of land have been destroyed by fire in the EU so far this year, almost 30 percent more than the 20-year average. In Greece, the area burned this year is even 83 percent above the average.
The EU already doubled its reserve aerial firefighting fleet last year in preparation for this summer.
Lenarčič explained that this is in response to the increase in severe forest fires in Europe, which "are threatening many Member States at the same time and are therefore overwhelming their ability to help each other through the ad hoc shows of solidarity that we are coordinating through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism."
"In addition, this year we are continuing preparations for the deployment of firefighters on the ground to enable rapid European assistance on the ground as well," he added.
The European Commission said it is also taking action to address the root causes of the increasing trend of intense forest fires, fueled by climate change.
"We have prepared the Forest Fire Prevention Action Plan in order to improve the administrative capacity and knowledge of stakeholders and to increase investments in forest fire prevention measures," said Lenarčič.
However, according to the Commissioner, tackling the causes of climate change is essential. Extreme meteorological conditions have been shown to exacerbate wildfires, with warmer and drier conditions leading to longer and more active fire seasons.
"The most effective measure to limit the damage this devastating impact on life, livelihoods and the environment is having is the green transition," Lenarčič said.
Although civil protection is the responsibility of Member States and the EU is supporting it by coordinating an efficient response, Lenarčič did not discount the prospect of an EU-wide firefighting service should the proliferation of forest fires continue.
"Of course, the likelihood of a fully-fledged EU fire service scenario being implemented depends primarily on the Member States themselves," he said.
"Regardless of such developments, the Commission will continue to do its utmost to exercise its supporting competence in this area."
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Background knowledge
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The map of the nuclear world
Upgrading costs a lot of money, what remains for disaster and climate protection...
The internal search for
Armament | Civil protection | Forest fires
brought the following results, among others:
July 27, 2023 - Greece Wildfires reach Air Force ammunition dumps
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February 3, 2023 - War is Peace, Peace is War
A number of impressive length: $2.113.000.000.000.
The United States has the largest share of these expenditures with over 800 billion US dollars, which is 38 percent of all military expenditures worldwide.
In other words, the US spent about as much on its war armaments as the following ten countries in the armaments rankings: China squandered 293 billion US dollars, India 76,6 billion; UK $68,4 billion; Russia is 5th with $65,9 billion; France 56,6 billion, Germany 56 billion dollars.
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January 19, 2022 - Dominance in the Mediterranean - Greece is arming itself
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September 03, 2021 - A Greece that has been saved is powerless against forest fires
YouTube
Sipri military spending - civil protection - forest fires
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Sipri+Militärausgaben
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Katastrophenschutz
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Waldbrände
Videos:
phoenix - April 25, 2023 - 4:38
Lucie Béraud-Suderau on the SIPRI report on military spending
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tagesschau - April 25, 2022 - 2:27
According to the Peace Research Institute, worldwide military spending is at a new high
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Playlist - radioactivity worldwide ...
This playlist contains over 150 videos on the topic
The search engine Ecosia is planting trees!
How much does civil protection cost?
https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=Was kostet Katastrophenschutz?
What is the military spending?
https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=Wie hoch sind die Militärausgaben?
Wikipedia
Civil protection
Disaster control (KatS) refers to the measures taken to protect people, the environment and certain property in or before the emergence of a disaster and to protect people's supplies. The protection of the population in the event of war is differentiated from civil protection. The latter is referred to as civil protection in the official language of the Federal Republic of Germany and is combined with disaster control under the generic term of civil protection; in Austria and Switzerland the language usage is different...
technical aid organization
Budget volume €734 million (as of 2022)
The Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) is the German civil and disaster protection organization of the federal government with volunteers and full-time employees (§ 1 Para. 3 THW-Gesetz) in the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Homeland. The Federal Institute is based in Bonn-Lengsdorf. The THW was founded on August 22, 1950 and since August 25, 1953 it has been an unincorporated federal institution under public law with its own administrative substructure. The Federal Agency for Technical Relief is thus a higher federal authority.
The forerunner of the Technical Relief Organization was the Technical Emergency Relief (TN) founded in 1919 by Otto Lummitzsch, a pioneer officer, which existed until 1945...
defense budget
The defense budget, also known as the defense budget or defense budget (also with the prefix "military" or "military"), includes all investments and cash expenditures that a state makes on strategic assets over a limited period of time...
Upgrade from 2022
The budget comprised 2019 billion euros in 43,2, 2020 billion euros in 45,2 and 2021 billion euros in 46,9.
After the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, a federal special fund called the “Bundeswehr Special Fund” was set up with the Federal Armed Forces Financing and Special Assets Act. Based on the current government forecast for defense spending according to NATO criteria, this will provide two percent of the gross domestic product on a multi-year average of a maximum of five years (Section 1 (2) of the law). This credit authorization is equal to twice the defense budget of new credit and is exempt from the credit limits of the debt rule...
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Newsletter XXX 2023 - July 23th to 29th
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