The THTR Circulars from 2005

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THTR Circular No. 103, Dec. 2005

What will happen to the HTR spheres in the next 1000 years?

The 2004 scientific report of the results of the Jülich Research Center (FZJ) provides retrospective information on the activities in the previous year. The "Institute for Safety Research and Reactor Technology" (ISR) integrated in the FZJ has been researching high-temperature reactors for decades. So what did the ISR do in the age of the phase-out of nuclear power last year? It examines the alleged safety quality of future nuclear plants to be built. This is different Position has been comprehensively documented.

In addition, the gentlemen from the ISR surprised us with the following facts: During the operation of the high-temperature reactors AVR and THTR, around one million spent fuel elements were produced. And where do you put it now, when it has only been known for 30 years that these radioactive spherical fuel elements are created during THTR operation and have to be "disposed of"? - All well and good, the institute has a new, additional task. A new professor, his name is Reinhard Odoj, has been hired and a new offer for a doctoral thesis has already been advertised.

But oh dear, what result has the institute come to with regard to the HTR graphite spheres: The disposal of radioactively contaminated graphite from the dismantling of nuclear facilities is cost-intensive. Who would have thought? Simply burning it is kind of problematic because of the emissions. The ISR is now trying thermal processes in the absence of air and is working on process optimization. A patent has been applied for for the process.

And the PAC beads in the fuel assemblies also cause problems. These are plutonium, americium and curium, with plutonium with more than 90% being the dominant mass fraction. The heavy elements in particular have a very high level of radiotoxicity, which, due to the longevity of the elements, is still present for many hundreds of thousands of years even after a final disposal. - That's terrible and so completely new! The ISR has a nice proposal ready, at least in terms of volume: By using it in a light water reactor (which therefore also may not be shut down), the original plutonium mass is reduced by 50% and thus more manageable, even if the radioactivity remains.

The brave researchers now also want to solve major problems such as the long-term safety of the final storage of the radioactive HTR spheres as part of a European project. In their opinion, the repository formations clay, granite or salt come into question. The biggest problem with the corrosion of the graphite balls is - well? - the water. The ISR found out: The first results of the corrosion tests show that the previous assumption of a dissolution time of 150 years is clearly too conservative and still contains many reserves. We are all reassured about that. The ISR is now researching how the cute spheres will likely behave over the next 1.000 years. That might be really exciting!

But what happens in the event of water ingress in the salt mine? It leads to the mobilization of radionuclides and their release from the repository! It's nice that the ISR is right with the protesting citizens in Gorleben. But wait, stop! Problems are there to be solved. The ISR has found out that under certain circumstances the mobilized radionuclides can largely be bound again and thus retained in the repository. Well, who says it, it works! And that's why the ISR is allowed to research this problem a little further. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is only too happy to finance such hopeful projects.

And at the end of the report there is a very, very big praise on our own behalf: In its statement of December 2004, the FZJ's Energy Advisory Board described the quality of the ISR's interdisciplinary research on international soil as excellent. HTR safety research and waste characterization are also unique selling points that should be maintained. - In other words: Even if no new HTR is allowed to be built in the FRG at the moment, you have done everything with your work so that it can at least go back into operation in other countries in the future!

Horst Blume

The United States government has been preparing to intensify the expansion of nuclear energy for several years. After four years of work on a new energy law, nothing stands in the way of this project. The law was passed in the House of Representatives and the Senate with a large, non-partisan majority.

This means that the majority of the opposition Democrats "voted in favor. On August 8, 2005, Bush signed the Energy Policy Act. In the future, it will remove institutional obstacles faster than before by standardizing and simplifying approval procedures for nuclear power plants. Financial compensation for the Nuclear industry in case of delays in the start of operations at nuclear facilities was also specified.

The US Department of Energy is starting the new building offensive with a special Nuclear Power 2010 program. Consortia of manufacturing companies and power generators are preparing new building and operating permits. GE Energy and Westinghouse have already made a pre-selection of six locations and want to share the cost of the preparatory work over half a billion dollars with the Department of Energy.

The magazine atomwirtschaft (atw 8/9, 2005) reported on the planned HTR funding: The provisions of the law intended to stimulate energy-related innovations include possible loan guarantees of up to 80% of the project costs for advanced reactor types. The law allows the Department of Energy to spend up to $ 2007 billion in fiscal year 1,2 on nuclear research and development and demonstration projects. It expressly supports the Nuclear Power 2010 and Generation IV programs and also calls for an initiative from the ministry for a next-generation high-temperature reactor (NGNP) that could generate both electricity and hydrogen.

The timeframe is as follows: A prototype of the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) is scheduled to go into operation in Idaho by around 2017 for electricity and hydrogen production. (atw 2, 2005) According to atw, "a central laboratory for research on advanced reactors has been created in the Idaho National Laboratory, which has received around 2005 million euros in funding for 410 alone. High-temperature reactors with thermal output are planned from 400 to 600 MW to generate electricity and process heat. This concept, newly launched by Framatome ANP (today transformed into AREVA through a merger with Siemens), has already been pursued in Germany and failed with the THTR Hamm and the AVR in Jülich.

Nevertheless, research is still being carried out at Forschungszentrum Jülich on various variants of coupling electricity and process heat as part of the further development of the HTR. The Jülich scientist Verfondern gave an overview of the development efforts to date in the journal of the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe Nachrichten (3, 2005). These have been running under a new, powerful name for some time: Nuclear hydrogen generation. In this context, nuclear researchers are currently dealing with the following delicate questions: Is the reactor building safe from an explosion in the chemical part of the complex? Or vice versa: What influence does the accidental release of radioactivity have on the continued operation of the chemical plant? (News, 3/2005).

Author, already known to the readers of the THTR-Rundbrief through some nuclear research under red-green, also goes into the current developments in Japan in the article. There, the JAERI (Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute) is experimenting in the HTTR to produce larger amounts of nuclear hydrogen in a high-temperature reactor. A realization of these projects is expected in 2010. At the international level, the following organizations are working on research into nuclear hydrogen production:

• Generation IV International Forum (GIF)
• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
• European Union

The EU has funded many of these projects in the current 6th Framework Program. The RAPHAEL (Reactor for Process Heat Hydrogen and Electricity Generation) project started in April 2005. The German HTR researchers from Lensa (FZ Jülich) and Scheuermann (Institute for Nuclear Energy, University of Stuttgart) are of course also involved!

Horst Blume

My article in the last ver.di newsletter on pro-nuclear course has obviously made waves. However, my criticism of the merging of ver.di and IG BCE with the leading nuclear companies was not directed against critical and committed individuals or grassroots groups, but against the trade union boards, who signed a paper that even took over the linguistic rules of the nuclear industry in detail has.

I provide evidence with numerous original quotes in the December edition of the monthly Graswurzelrevolution (No. 304, read under: www.grassroots.net).

There is now increasing evidence that certain union officials have started a targeted campaign to continue promoting the HTR line.

In the November issue of the atomwirtschaft (atw) magazine, a speech by Prof. Dr. Franz-Josef Wodopia printed at the winter conference of the German Atomic Forum. Wodopia has been responsible for economic, European and environmental policy in the IG BCE since 1989. It was not until July 2005 that he moved to the main management of the General Association of German Hard Coal Mining in Essen.

In his speech he lamented the widespread risk aversion in Germany and went on: The development of the THTR should also be mentioned in this context. It's not in Hamm-Uentrop, but in China. Another example of a know-how export. (...) IG BCE and its predecessor organizations have repeatedly tried to influence the nuclear energy debate. Early on, they had suggested that work should be carried out on the development of new reactors with inherent safety that would limit the risks of a worst-case accident to the interior of the facility. (...) But one thing is clear - even if this will trigger a contradiction - the THTR would have been a development that could have fulfilled the criteria addressed by the IG BCE. The fact that there were very conventional problems with the transition to the first large-scale system should not have seriously spoken against this technology - and it is also not what China is showing.

Anyone who has so far been surprised that representatives of the red-green federal government have also agreed to HTR funding by the European Union may now finally notice that EU policy is particularly determined by interest groups and lobbyists. The active Professor Wodopia is a member of the General Secretariat of the European Union, which accompanies the decision-making process of the EU institutions! - Is that someone laughing?

Horst Blume

In issues 100 and 101 of the THTR circular we reported that uranium has been mined in the Rössing above-ground uranium mine in the former German colony of South West Africa - today's Namibia - since 1976. Among other things, the THTR Hamm was also supplied. In addition, the Australian Paladin Resources group is now also allowed to mine uranium in the Langer Heinrich nature reserve. For this reason, Namibia will work its way up to the third largest uranium supplier in the world after Australia and Canada.

Public discussion and resistance

Langer Heinrich's approval has sparked protests from human rights organizations and Earthlife Africa. With financial help from the Greens / Bündnis 90, the Öko-Institut Darmstadt evaluated the environmental impact study submitted by the mine operators in its own 24-page study (1). The institute found out that the levels of the radioactive gases radium and radon were underestimated by a factor of four by the operators. Furthermore, the German institute criticized serious deficiencies, weak points and unsolved problems in relation to the overburden and waste in the uranium extraction. This uranium mine alone will be the fourth largest consumer of water in Namibia - and the Rössing mine will be added!

According to an agreement between the World Bank and the National Planning Commission (NPC), the protection of the coastal region to which the mining area belongs is funded with US $ 4,9 million. A representative of the World Bank already warned that wrong decisions would lead to long-term loss of biodiversity. Even Prime Minister Nahas Angula feared that the delicate desert equilibrium would be disrupted by additional pollution. There is obviously a contradiction between these statements and the minister's action in favor of the uranium mine, to which the Namibian Society for Human Rights (NGfM) pointed out and asked: So who is in charge?

This soon became apparent. During the parliamentary question time of the Namibian Parliament at the end of October 2005, Mining Minister Erkki Nghimtina defamed the publication of the Öko-Institut's study as externally financed interference that would poison the atmosphere! The former liberation movement of Namibia, which has ruled with a solid majority for 15 years, relies fully on uranium mining as a source of foreign currency and jobs. Allegedly, 750 jobs will be created by Langer Heinrich and 63 million Namibian dollars will be flushed into the state coffers. That is why the ruling party likes to overlook the fact that the entire ecosystem in the national and wildlife park will be permanently disturbed by the 4374 hectare mining area.

The operating license for the mine is initially 11 years and for the processing plants 15 years. The mining minister also emphasized that he was sticking to the goal of exploiting at least some of the eight known uranium deposits in Namibia.

After all, the study by the Öko-Institut put the mine operators under pressure to hold two public information events in the nearby coastal towns of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. They were very well attended and many Namibians asked critical questions. Just three weeks later, the mine operators had already had enough of the public debate. As Earthlife in Windhoek for a large public meeting with the well-known South African nuclear expert Dr. David Fig (2) also invited the mining company's environmental officer, but he was not allowed to come. The media reported a reluctance to public debate.

Uranium thieves

In another case too, the uranium mine operators do not like too much public attention. In 2005, three uranium thieves were on trial in Swakopmund who stole 21,5 kg of uranium oxide from a test laboratory from the Rössing concern. The police noticed the illegal sale in November 2004. The operators claimed that the stolen quantity was of little value and of no use to third parties!

Since uranium is becoming increasingly scarce worldwide, the uranium price must inevitably rise dramatically. As with oil today, there will be fierce disputes - maybe even wars - over the control of uranium deposits in the future. These mines are the beginning of the atomic spiral: for civilian use as well as for the military.

Namibia's first wind turbine!

But there are also hopeful signs in the immediate vicinity of the new uranium mine. On November 10, 2005, Namibia's first wind turbine went into operation eleven kilometers east of the port city of Walvis Bay! It should achieve an output of 220 kilowatts and mainly support a substation and compensate for power fluctuations. The 31 meter high wind turbine was built in cooperation with Danish, South African and Namibian companies. After a two-year test and learning phase, consideration is given to whether a complete wind farm should be built here.

The German-language Allgemeine Zeitung (3) speaks euphorically of a new era and of one of the most promising projects in Namibia. The newspaper wrote in its comment: And it is an important step for Namibia to adapt to the worldview, to use natural energies sustainably and to protect the environment. - One almost has the impression that among the descendants of the German colonists, 25 years later, the first green sprinkles are also visible here. And meanwhile there is already a little talk shop about the propeller diameter and the number of revolutions of the wind turbine .... One can only wish all Namibians that this new development will gain momentum very soon!

Horst Blume

Notes:

1. Öko-Institut: Evaluation of selected aspects of the environmental assessment report for the Langer Heinrich Uranium Mining Project in Namibia, September 29, 9. Authors: G. Schmidt; P. Diehl. Can be viewed at: www.oeko-institut.de under documents
2. David Fig is the editor of the 67-page brochure Uranium Road on the nuclear facilities in South Africa and the planned PBMR (see THTR-RB 95).
3. The Allgemeine Zeitung, which appears daily from Monday to Friday, can also be read on the Internet: www.az.com.na . The information in this article was taken from the Allgemeine Zeitung. From the following issues: January 24th; 16th September; October 21, 24 and 28; November 11th, 17th and 22nd, 2005.

Like all other newspapers, the THTR-Rundbrief is required to submit two mandatory copies per issue free of charge to a specific government agency. The memorable address should not be withheld from our readers. It reads correctly as follows:

The German Library

German library

German place 1

D-04103 Leipzig

On November 27, the neo-Nazi and former Republican chairman Franz Schönhuber died. A few weeks before his death, he had won 2,5 percent for the NPD in the well-known Dresden Bundestag by-election. - What's that got to do with Hamm? A little. In 1969 and 1970 Schönhuber was editor-in-chief of the Munich tabloid tz, which today, like Hammer Westfälische Anzeiger (WA), belongs to the Ippen empire (1). Ippen is that busy, conservative publisher who, in the meantime, has been harassing innocent and defenseless citizens of Hammer himself with twisted tracts in the monopoly newspaper WA. In the seventies, the citizens of Hammer had to take notice of the WA advertisements in the right-wing national newspaper with the following content: Scheel's kneeling in Moscow. It was quite by chance that the Nazi newspaper was produced in the Hammer Druckhaus des Westfälischer Anzeiger at that time. Coincidentally, Schönhuber later wrote in the National-Zeitung from 1999 to 2003. So many coincidences!

(on 1) see THTR circular no.77 and 81

The satirical magazine Titanic could not have designed the cover of the Westphalian Gazette on Angela Merkel's accession to power: under the large picture of the new Chancellor was the eye-catching headline Even more disgusting meat! And less than that: Another chance for Laurenz Meyer?

It was only a year ago that the popular expense and social robbery (€ 23.243,67 monthly income in 2004) had to resign as Secretary General of the CDU just because he had also received a bit of free electricity from his former employer RWE. After it had become noticeably quiet around him, Meyer ran for the Bundestag in Hamm and achieved a sensational 32,8%. With so much encouragement from his hometown, the former general set off for new shores. On 22.11/30.11 reported to the WA that Meyer was under discussion as State Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs. But nothing came of it. In the meantime he has been elected as the economic policy spokesman for the CDU / CSU parliamentary group. This ensures that a terrible economic policy is presented to the public by such a person. And already Meyer thinks according to WA of November XNUMXth. One thing: I know that in my position as economic policy spokesman I can make a difference. Did he mean movements on his account again? And what if his meager salary is not enough for him this time too? - Then he could still take on a part-time job as press spokesman for RWE and explain why this energy company has a lot of money for its shareholders, but none for the repair of the ailing power grid.

Horst Blume

Other episodes of this popular series in older editions:
THTR Circular No. 96,
THTR Circular No. 95,
THTR Circular No. 87

Dear readers!

At the end of this eventful year, also on the subject of HTR, I would like to refer to the Namibia article and a brief description of our BI in FugE-News No. 2. Issue 5 of the very readable bimonthly magazine 'afrika süd' quoted our press release on RWE NUKEM. - If you have had enough of big politics and want to dream of hiking in the sunny south, visit the homepage of our webmaster Werner Neubauer, where I give tips on hiking in Mallorca: www.traveller-reiseberichte.de. - And anyone who has not donated to the THTR circular for a long time is welcome to do so again!

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