Title page - THTR circular no.149, December 2017 According to the forecasts of the Chinese Atomic Energy Agency, the two THTR reactor blocks on the Shandong peninsula (Tsingtao) would have to supply electricity as early as December 2017. But, as so often before, it turned out differently than one thought, as has since been admitted from various sides. On April 5, 2017, when reports about the loading of the reactors with the non-radioactive moderator spheres, everything seemed to be going on schedule.

But then the World Nuclear News (WNN) website reported on September 17, 2017: “Five years after the start of the HTR program, the technical tests of most of the innovative components and materials have been completed and the reactor vessel and some non-flammable graphite spheres are on site loaded". To then admit: “On the construction site in Shidaowan in Shandong Province, the steam generator and reactor vessel are in final assembly, Wu said. One of the outstanding work is the final test of the steam generator, which transfers the heat from helium coolant to a water / steam loop. Wu said these should be completed by next April "(1).

So balls are still being loaded and the functionality of the steam generator will be checked until April 2018. Let's see what comes up afterwards. In October 2017, the 150 percent German THTR friends from the "Biokernsprit" homepage (see article on the next pages) confirmed existing problems in their very own way:

“We hear from our Chinese contacts: The HTR-PM could probably be 1 year late due to problems with the conventional technology. With such a large initial project, that's not surprising. Other major projects prove it (Berlin, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Olkiluoto, Flamanville). The progress is also clearly visible. The estimated costs for this first model should be around 1 billion euros. That too is not exceptional. On July 30th, the steam turbine met the gearbox requirements and the test run was successful.

On August 11th, the target (250.000 burning balls in 2017 four months before the deadline was exceeded). Sample balls were successfully tested in Petten (NL) and at KIT Karlsruhe. "

If the scandals about Berlin Airport and the train station in Stuttgart are described by these people as "not surprising" and compared with the THTR, then we can still expect a lot. It is noticeable that the serious problems are attributed to the conventional part and of course not to the nuclear part. It is also significant that state-funded German and Dutch research institutes are involved in the Chinese THTR development.

Further THTR projects are planned in China itself: Feasibility studies for HTR-PM 600 reactors are currently being carried out in Sanmen (Zhejiang Province), Ruijin (Jiangxi Province), Xiapu and Wan'an (Fujian Province) and Bai'an (Guangdong Province ) accomplished. These are places that are on the same level as Taiwan and stretch to just before Hong Kong in the south.

As already reported in the last THTR circular, the cooperation agreements of May 15, 2017 for the cooperation and development of HTRs between China and Saudi Arabia were signed by both sides in August 2017. The main concern here is the operation of seawater desalination plants using high-temperature reactors and the transfer of know-how.

Notes

(1) http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-China-plans-further-high-temperature-reactor-innovation-1909171.html

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THTR dismantling: does the NRW government have a plan?

After its decommissioning from 1997 to 2027, the THTR is in so-called decommissioning operation, which costs several million euros every year. After twenty years - so now in 2017 - according to the agreements made at the time, the operator HKG is to inform the NRW Ministry of Economics as the approval authority when and how the dismantling of the THTR is to take place. So far nothing has become known to the public about this. Since financial aspects also play a role, our questions of November 16, 11 will also go to the NRW Ministry of Finance. Here is the specific questionnaire:

The last known concrete statement by the NRW state government on a possible dismantling of the THTR took place on October 17, 2008 and is now nine years ago.

The state government's “State of the art of dismantling THTR Hamm-Uentrop” for the Committee for Economy, Medium-Sized Enterprises and Energy from October 17, 10 states:

“According to the approval notice 7 / 12c, edition 3.20, the THTR 300 system must be kept securely enclosed until it is completely dismantled. In 2017, ie after 20 years of safe confinement, the nuclear regulatory authority must be informed of how long safe confinement is to be maintained. "

This gives rise to the following questions, which we ask you to answer:

1. Since 2017 is almost over: How long should the safe containment of the THTR be maintained? Are there efforts to dismantle the THTR? What information does your ministry have?

2. Which possible different courses of action result from this? Which one does your ministry prefer? Have there been or are discussions taking place with the operators on this matter? What will your ministry do next?

3. The report “Costs of the dismantling of the THTR 300” from May 2008 commissioned by the operator HKG is mentioned in the above-mentioned status report. There, "Siempelkamp NIS Ingenieurgesellschaft mbh" put the total cost of the dismantling at 347,1 million euros. They wrote: "The calculated costs of around 347,1 million euros seem rather optimistic". Why do you think these projected costs are rather optimistic?

4. In what financial framework will the costs for the dismantling move based on the current state of affairs?

5. Does HKG or RWE have obligations to provide provisions for THTR Hamm and, if so, to what extent? Has the operator HKG made appropriate provisions and given certain financial commitments? Who would have to bear the costs in the event of insufficient provisions?

6. How does your ministry assess the potential risk of dismantling in view of the radioactive inventory (including 1,6 kg of nuclear fuel) and past incidents?

7. How high are the current and likely future annual costs for the operation of the "safely enclosed system" THTR? How is the allocation of the costs of the respective actors structured? Have all financial commitments been kept so far? Are there any commitments from the operators for the period after 2022?

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Federal Audit Office criticizes THTR operators for wanting to avoid payments:

The report of the Federal Audit Office to the budget committee of the German Bundestag according to § 88 on the overarching aspects of the planning, management and control of the decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear test facilities of April 17, 2015 points to inconsistencies on page 43 in its chapter 5 "Transparency of the total costs" the assumption of the federal government for the costs for decommissioning and dismantling of the THTR:

“In other cases, the reasons for the removal or inclusion of projects are not apparent. In contrast to previous years, the 2015 budget no longer contains any reference to the previous financial participation of the federal government in the shutdown of the THTR in Hamm-Uentrop. The report to the budget committee lists the project, but points out that the federal government's financial obligations expired in 2009. This is at least misleading, since the division of the costs for the dismantling of the plant from 2023 and a possible participation of the federal government has not yet been decided. "

On page 49, the Federal Court of Auditors clearly shows that behind the very low cost expectations given by the nuclear industry (as happened with the THTR dismantling with 347,1 million euros), the calculation is, at a very early stage, as cheaply as possible, forever out of financial responsibility to be discharged:

“The examples mentioned indicate that the impetus for nuclear research activities in some cases did not come primarily from the federal government, but from the state or the electricity industry. At the same time, they show an already pronounced tendency to shift the effort of removing the contaminated sites from these activities to the federal government. This is particularly problematic if the risks to which the federal government will be exposed and the appropriate contribution made by the responsible institutions are not clearly stated. This is shown by the example of the WAK GmbH, where the contribution of the private operators was set on the basis of a significantly too low cost expectation and the dramatically rising costs are now largely to be borne by the federal government. Particularly with a view to the outstanding stipulations at the THTR, it should be avoided that the private shareholders can free themselves from the risks of possible significant cost increases in return for an inadequate and rather 'symbolic' lump sum payment. "

The report can be viewed here:

https://www.bundesrechnungshof.de/de/veroeffentlichungen/beratungsberichte/langfassungen/langfassungen-2015/2015-bericht-uebergreifende-aspekte-der-planung-steuerung-und-kontrolle-bei-stilllegung-und-rueckbau-nuklearer-versuchsanlagen-pdf

HKG tax exemption

The status of a “Joint European Company” for the THTR operator HKG was extended in 2010 for a further 8 years. Another extension would have to take place in 2018. According to Article 48 of the Euratom Treaty, this status is linked to a tax exemption. In 2002 we had an intensive correspondence with the responsible NRW ministries on this topic, which can be viewed in circular 77:

http://www.reaktorpleite.de/nr-77-november-02.html

THTR advertising with fuel and esprit

After the THTR sponsor and CEO Hermann Josef Werhahn passed away in 2016 (1), it obviously looks bad in the cash register of the active THTR zealots who have gathered around the homepage with the irritating name "organic kernel fuel". The strange catchphrases used to identify your concerns at the top of the text still resonate in my ears:

"Dams instead of dams - ball bed oven instead of dinosaur pile - catching instead of bouncing - fuel instead of batteries". But too much fuel is not good either - that's my opinion!

In order to be able to convey these groundbreaking messages in a framework that also meets the highest demands in no time at all, even to the very last doubters, the pithy sprinters need, believe it or not, "up to 40.000 euros" to professionalize their website. What could not be more obvious to really start into the new era with crowdfunding at Klickstarter?

By June 30, 2016, a total of 13 supporters who wanted to loosen up only 646 euros for the noble goal - how depressing! Who should now “keep the knowledge of the HTR ball bed reactor alive”, shoo the last sleepy head out of bed and save the reactor world?

But now let's be serious: If such people are already so awkwardly tinkering around setting up a professional website, what are they possibly doing when they really have to get a radioactive pebble that has gone wild to bed safely?

The thoroughly serious “Nuclear Forum Switzerland” also comes up with hard facts instead of fake news in its latest four-page “fact sheet”: “The concept of a gas-cooled high-temperature pebble bed reactor, which was tried and tested in Germany decades ago, is currently experiencing a REBIRTH” !! - Isn't that what everyone wants? And why shouldn't it also be a realistic option with the THTR, because "an accident with a meltdown is not possible for reasons of natural law"?

And in the next issue I will write how the new pebble pile perpetual motion machine of the third kind drives a hamster wheel. Or to express it in bio-core fuel rhetoric: "Ideas instead of the rest of the way"!

Notes

(1) http://www.machtvonunten.de/atomkraft-und-oekologie/244-rheinischer-kapitalismus-moorhuhn-kontra-werhahn.html

HTR in Poland?

In issue 147 I wrote that the plan is to build an HTR about 30 kilometers from Warsaw. Obviously there are problems in the legal area. In the ATW, the organ of the German nuclear industry, this was reason enough to debate on many sides:

“In the July 2016 issue, an article was published on the legal barriers to building HTRs in Poland. The authors have a number of objections to the Polish Atomic Energy Act and argue that there are legal obstacles to the construction of HTR reactors. This contribution shows that the construction of HTR reactors is possible on the basis of the existing Polish laws and regulations. "

Source:

http://www.kernenergie.de/kernenergie/fachzeitschrift-atw/hefte-themen/2017/08-09_aug-sep.php#

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HTR experiments in the Netherlands

In the seaside resort Caps is the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands (ECN), which has been researching the HTR line for decades. The fuel elements for the Chinese THTR were tested here. But that is by no means all that is currently happening:

“Researchers from the NRG (Nuclear Research and Advisory Group) in the Netherlands have been working on the (more) safe thorium liquid salt reactors for a long time. New types of experiments have now been started. These experiments in Petten, the Netherlands, mark the first of their kind in over 45 years, because early experiments were discontinued due to the insurmountable requirements placed on the materials.

Two weeks ago, as part of the SALIENT experiment, a set of concentric sealed tubes was run into the core of the experimental High Flux Reactor in Petten. (...) In the industry, these new experiments are seen as a kind of dawn after the experiments in the 1970s failed due to technical problems worldwide. But many nuclear physicists still attribute special potential to thorium, as the concept is inherently much safer and even more ecological in terms of nuclear waste and could therefore power the next generation of nuclear reactors. "

Source of August 28, 8:

https://www.elektormagazine.de/news/it-s-all-about-energy-neue-experimente-am-thorium-reaktor

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Transport containers from Ahaus can be repaired at THTR Hamm

In the Ahaus transport cask storage facility (TBL-A) there have been exactly 1995 transport and storage casks (TBL) - also known as castors - from the THTR Hamm since 305. They contain 600.000 radioactive spherical fuel elements. Hubertus Zdebel (MDB Die Linke) asked the Bundestag whether, in the event of a leak in the container, it could be transported back to Hamm to be repaired there.

The answer shows that if a leak is proven, such a container can actually be returned to the THTR with an appropriately issued permit. The basic possibility of transport has been extended by 10 years this year and is valid until January 24, 2027.

In the event of a leak, the transport container is transported back to Hamm and taken to room ZD04 R174 (reactor operating building) in the THTR and repaired there. It should be noted that the fuel element balls themselves located in the container must not be examined here. After the repair, the container must be transported back to Ahaus.

Exact wording:

http://dip21.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/18/134/1813499.pdf

BI Ahaus was 40 years old!

On October 8, 2017, the “Citizens' Initiative No Nuclear Waste” celebrated its 40th anniversary in the town hall of Ahaus with sparkling wine, a speech by the mayor, an exhibition and music. At this point, congratulations afterwards!

In the 90s, a total of 59 Castor transports with the 600.000 radioactive fuel elements from the THTR to the interim storage facility in Ahaus took place. While in Hamm the continuous nuclear political work after the exhausting disputes about the closure of the THTR was unfortunately only the business of less than half a dozen active people, demonstrations with many thousands of people and countless actions and blockades took place in Ahaus, which attracted a lot of attention nationwide .

To celebrate the day, I have my book contribution “Castor transports from Hamm to Ahaus. Two citizens' initiatives fight against nuclear power ”from the book“ Ahaus. Das Buch zum Castor ”from 1999 put online. Among other things, it shows that quite a few citizens and institutions from Hamm were rather indifferent to the transport of the nuclear waste produced in Hamm to Ahaus. The main thing was that he was gone first:

“By August 1993, the NRW state government had given the operating company" Hoch Temperatur-Kernkraft GmbH "(HKG) around DM 430 million, partly without a resolution by the NRW parliament, in order to avert its impending bankruptcy. In addition, the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister Einert had to admit that there were technical complications in the THTR in removing the remaining 500.000 graphite spheres from the reactor core.

The transports to Ahaus therefore had to be interrupted until January 1994. The reaction of the Environment Committee of the City Council of Hamm in this context testifies to an unbelievable ignorance and ignorance: "The fact that the bullets were now being removed was generally perceived as positive, because then they would finally be gone" (Westfälischer Anzeiger dated December 3, 12 ). "

The entire book can be viewed here:

http://www.machtvonunten.de/lokales-hamm/315-castortransporte-von-hamm-nach-ahaus.html

Long live the rule of law!

"Germanwatch" wrote enthusiastically on their homepage on November 13, 11:

“The 5th civil senate of the OLG Hamm wrote legal history today: It made it clear that large emitters like RWE are fundamentally obliged to support those affected by climate damage in poor countries. This means that Saúl Luciano Lliuya's climate action against RWE is entering the next phase. (...) The procedure is a precedent because there are similar laws to the one applied here in a great many countries. With the civil action, Luciano Lliuya wants RWE to pay for protective measures on a glacial lake above the Andean town of Huaraz in accordance with its share in causing climate change. "

Since I attended the trial as a spectator with about a hundred other citizens, I was able to see that even in our Hamm, judge Ralf Mayer, is a competent and critical person who embarrassed the RWE representatives, who seemed overwhelmed. Respect! The 16 Germanwatch representatives and supporters of the Peruvian smallholder who had worked for two years to bring about this process, let the champagne corks pop after the results were announced.

But what does the judgment mean realistically? If all goes well, the legal process will actually begin. The two contracting parties will negotiate for about half a year in order to agree on a neutral expert. The rest of the process will take a year or two. How it ends, nobody knows. Nothing is decided.

In this context, it should be permissible to ask whether it is advisable to rely too heavily on German courts on important political issues. It was a bit irritating when leading Germanwatch representatives exclaimed euphorically several times after the court hearing “Thank God there is still a constitutional state in Germany!” - It would be nice. But has this NGO already been softened up to such an extent that it no longer has any historical-political consciousness and is obviously not even aware of the current legal scandals?

What did the German judiciary do with nonviolent opponents of rearmament in the 50s? How badly did she play with conscientious objectors and apo demonstrators in the following years? How many squatters against nuclear power and castor blockers were convicted? How many corporate offenses went unpunished? How many right-wing terrorists covered and let go? How many refugee home lighters are not prosecuted? And how many non-violent sit-insists punished harshly against Nazi rallies? The list goes on.

Therefore: no illusions! The political struggle with direct nonviolent actions and mass mobilization is the prerequisite for social progress. Our political opponents do not give in on their own or because of beautiful words.

Criticism of Facebook

Discussion of the book "The Net in Our Hand! From Digital Capitalism to Data Democracy" by Thomas Wagner.

Facebook is great! The fact that many people have now accepted as a truism that the network users pay with their data for the services they use and that they are monitored and analyzed by the operators, Wagner meticulously illuminates the deepest depths of the data jungle and promotes both terrifying and frightening ones previously neglected details come to light. And what is at least as important, it reveals connections and mechanisms, as beyond the data evaluation, a precise prediction of behavior patterns, targeted control and manipulation of human behavior and political processes by Internet companies are likely.

All of this is only possible because so far we have left our communication infrastructure to corporations of all people. Facebook presents itself as a quasi public institution that serves the common good. Wagner shows, however, that a digital parallel world, decoupled from social influence, has emerged to increase profit and power for the owners.

The full book review "Click slaves of all countries unite!" Is available here:

http://www.machtvonunten.de/medienkritik/314-klick-sklaven-aller-laender-vereinigt-euch.html

How the "Westfälische Anzeiger" in Hamm pillories anti-fascists

No, just go back to the agenda and pretend nothing had happened, I can't after the failure of the “Westphalian Gazette” against the anti-fascist youth alliance “Haekelclub 590” and against the “Round Table against Radicalism and Violence” shortly before the federal election . After all, this kind of public opinion also made the way for the AFD into the Bundestag possible. That is why I am printing my article from the monthly "Grassroots Revolution" from September 2017 at this point:

It was already four weeks after G 20. The federal election campaign was boring. And then the summer slump. The editor Andreas Wartala (not to be confused with Walhalla!) Used this at the hammer "Westfälischen Anzeiger" to startle the province out of its twilight sleep with a lead story that let the average reader look into the deepest abysses of extremism and violence on their own doorstep:

“'Haekelclub 590' in view. Youth alliance at State Security on record / Black Block at the round table. The anti-fascist youth alliance 'Haekelclub 590' from Hamm is on record with the state security. That was the result of research by our editorial team on the subject of 'left violence' in Hamm after the riots at the G20 summit four weeks ago in Hamburg. "

The editor meticulously quoted state security statistics with "findings" from Hamm and spread a real horror scenario before the eyes of the shocked readers of the provincial newspaper: bodily harm, resistance to state authority, breach of the peace, damage to property, insults and incitement to hatred allegedly have occurred a dozen times since 2013 Account of the crochet club environment!

To make matters worse, the latter has nudged itself cheekily into the foundations of democratic institutions in this city: "The Haekel Club is a member of the round table against radicalism and violence initiated by Hammer Politik. (...) Financed by funding from the federal program 'Living Democracy '... "This article is crowned by a cover photo in which, in a martial pose, heavily armed police officers in Hamm are shackling an anti-fascist lying on the ground.

There has been a right-wing scene in Hamm for many years, which, closely based on its notorious Dortmund role model, has shown lively activity and has produced right-wing leaders who are well-known nationwide. The broad anti-fascist youth alliance "Haekelclub 590", in which young greens and Jusos are also involved, has opposed the right with demonstrations and rallies. The Antifas have often been harassed and hindered by the police in recent years. A few small blockades and objections to the police were "put on record".

THTR Rundbrief Nr.:149 - National newspaper 1973 1, printed in the print shop of the 'WA' in Hamm In its sensational article, the Westfälische Anzeiger did not pillory threats, inhuman actions and incitement to the right, but rather left the resistance shortly before the federal election. Right-wing letters to the editor then equated Antifas with "terrorists". Statements from the VVN and the Haekel Club concerned were not printed by the WA. Only the party "Die Linke" succeeded in placing an unequivocal statement in the paper.

The SPD and the Greens conspicuously ducked and said nothing, although it was their youth organizations that were defamed by the local newspaper. A day later, the paper followed up and asked a church representative of the Round Table Against Violence: "Is there (...) a left-wing scene in Hamm?" The undisguised desire to hunt witches catches the eye.

For years we got used to the fact that a few nice, approachable journalists from the local paper willingly took up our topics such as ecology, cycling, and even criticism of nuclear power. It was only too happy to ignore the fact that dealing with these topics has long since arrived in the mainstream and is no longer anything extraordinary as it was 40 years ago. So on the one hand we have achieved something, on the other hand we are still at the mercy of the conventional, right-wing media when it matters.

The "Westfälische Anzeiger" belongs to the right-wing conservative publisher Dirk Ippen, who not only wants to get readers on the right track with his own column, but has also built up a local newspaper empire across the entire republic over the decades. In Hamm, the right-wing radical "Nationalzeitung" was printed in the WA Griebsch print shop and advertisements for the Nazi newspaper appeared in the local section.

In order not to be exposed to the arbitrariness of such media groups, it is important to develop your own local media that are read not only by ourselves but also by many other people.

Dear readers!

Issue 150 of the newsletter will appear next year. That would be a nice reason to say, but that's enough now. In view of the extent of the current legal development and idiocy, the irresponsible inaction towards climate change and the extensive inactivity of the majority of the population, one could say "you will see what you get out of it" and because of the obvious resistance of many people to advice after 45 years withdraw from political work.

You could. But I'm afraid I couldn't shut up about it. And it would be a real shame if we no longer had such a widespread medium as this newsletter available. Widespread? - Oh yes, it's not just the hundred and ten paper copies that count. Several hundred thousand "visits" (a visit is a single visitor who stays on at least three pages of the homepage for at least 30 seconds) are achieved annually via the homepage Reaktorpleite.de. Rapid growth is the order of the day! - So: The newsletter should continue to appear in the future!

My personal homepage Machtvonunten.de is five years old this month and is also being used more and more intensively. Of the 320 articles from around 30 different magazines, 60 deal with the THTR:

http://www.machtvonunten.de/atomkraft-und-oekologie.html

In this way, too, we are increasingly able to oppose the prevailing media with our information and opinions, because our articles often appear in the first search results on Google.

For work on 'THTR circular', 'reaktorpleite.de' and 'Map of the nuclear world' we need up-to-date information, energetic, fresh comrades-in-arms under 100 (;-) and donations. If you can help, please send a message to: info@reaktorpleite.de

Donation appeal

- The THTR circular is published by the 'BI Environmental Protection Hamm' and is financed by donations.

- The THTR circular has meanwhile become a much-noticed information medium. However, there are ongoing costs due to the expansion of the website and the printing of additional information sheets.

- The THTR circular researches and reports in detail. In order for us to be able to do that, we depend on donations. We are happy about every donation!

Donations account: BI Umweltschutz Hamm

Usage: THTR Rundbrief

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