The THTR Circulars from 2006

***

***

THTR Circular No. 106, April 2006

Incident in the Koeberg nuclear power plant / South Africa:

No sabotage, just terrifying normalcy!

In Koeberg near Cape Town, two pressurized water reactors with a capacity of 1984 MW each have been in operation since 900. For real? Hardly any more now. The power plant location, at which a high-temperature reactor is to be added in the next few years, has meanwhile caused numerous discussions in southern Africa because the energy supply is collapsing more and more often. With dramatic consequences for the economy - and for the soccer World Cup in South Africa in 2010!

The only two nuclear power plants in the southern hemisphere were built by the French company Framatome. The CASTOR containers for the nuclear waste were supplied by the Society for Nuclear Containers (GNB) from Essen and Mühlheim / Ruhr. It is the same company that manufactured the 1992 THTR castors for transport to the Ahaus interim storage facility in 305.

In order for nuclear operations to work like clockwork, the maintenance staff must of course also be in top shape. This is taken care of by the "World Association of Nuclear Operators" (WANO), which reported in its newspaper "Inside Wano" No. 12 in 2004 on the training courses for nuclear power plant personnel: "The program manager and head of the production department, Kevin Engel, According to him, it took some time to convince the experienced shift workers of this new approach to training. " It is really incredible! The personnel involved in the production of the most dangerous form of energy there is must first be made clear through lengthy persuasion that their own optimal training is extremely important. That lets you see deeply. How hard the motivation work had to be can be seen from the following passage: "As far as the training is concerned, the trainer Thegan Govender sums up the challenge that the trainers are facing: 'On the way to excellent training, it is important to establish instructions, Processes and indicators the easy part, crucial for long-term success in achieving excellent training, is to change the hearts and minds of the staff nuclear safety and plant performance have gained. "

Candles in Cape Town

The "success" cannot have been particularly lasting. Just a year later, the nuclear drift began again. An alleged "anomaly in a security system" led to the shutdown of the nuclear power plant in December 2005. The country's parliament was plunged into darkness, overloaded emergency power generators broke out several fires and the power went out in several skyscrapers. In the meantime, candles and emergency power generators have become box office hits in Cape Town. After further failures, including for Christmas, a great deal of guesswork began as to whether the operating personnel would have to deal with serious problems in the reactor.

A team of experts from France arrived and completely dismantled the defective generator from block one. At the end of January it was clear that an eight centimeter long bolt had somehow gotten inside the generator and had caused considerable damage. A feverish search for used reactor spare parts began, because it would have taken about a year to manufacture a new one.

So after block one threatened to fail for a long time, new adversity loomed. Unit two should actually also be shut down as planned for the fuel element replacement. It took some persuasion to convince the International Atomic Energy Agency that this is not possible for the time being due to the extremely tense energy supply situation. The remaining uranium supplies in the reactor will be stretched longer than originally planned at lower loads. Meanwhile, the South African electricity supplier ESKOM had to put up with sharp criticism of its public relations work in parliament. ANC parliamentarians pushed for a plausible explanation for the nuclear accident. However, there was no such thing.

At the end of February, the environmental organization Earthlife Africa suspected that the metropolis of Cape Town had barely escaped a major nuclear accident. DPA reported on February 27, 2: "As a 'last line of defense' only the diesel generators (...) would have protected the reactor from overheating. 'If this last line of defense fails, a meltdown is indeed possible," said Maya Aberman from the environmental group Earthlife Africa of the newspaper 'Star'. (...) The economy put the damage from power outages in initial estimates at 2006 million euros. Hospitals, service providers and restaurants, but also fruit and wine farmers are affected Cape has suffered from the failure of the cooling system. The failures became a political issue ahead of the local elections on March 70st and also raised concerns about energy security for the host of the 1 World Cup. "

The economy is threatened with destabilization

In the meantime, many large companies complain about the lack of planning security when it comes to energy. "Due to increasing doubts about a reliable energy supply, several raw materials companies have announced that they want to reconsider investment plans worth billions. The raw materials company BHP Billiton has for the first time openly expressed doubts about the energy policy of the South African electricity monopoly Energy cannot be realized. (...) ESKOM recently announced an infrastructure program worth 85 billion Rand over five years, with the help of which the energy supply in South Africa is to be modernized by 2010. Critics say the program is more like that Proof of what the electricity supplier has missed in the past ten years in terms of urgently needed investments. "(1) For decades, South Africa has exported energy to its neighboring countries at the world's lowest prices due to its own overcapacities and now one is threatened huge power gap. 800 power outages in Johannesburg (2005) in 2 alone speak for themselves.

Terrorists in the nuclear power plant?

One day before the local elections, which are particularly important for Cape Town, DPA reported on February 28.02.2006, XNUMX: "In South Africa, strangers deliberately brought one of the two reactors in South Africa's Koeberg nuclear power plant to a standstill by sabotage. The minister responsible for public companies, Alec Erwin, declared on Tuesday that it was an accident be excluded. " The South African environmentalists rate the letter of confession from an alleged Islamic terrorist group as highly untrustworthy, as it was published three months late just one day before the local elections. Obviously, after months of embarrassing discussions about sloppy maintenance and supervision in the Koeberg nuclear power plant, this report was intended to divert attention from the wrongdoing of the government and operators. It couldn't be more amateurish or obvious.

Nevertheless, eight days after the incident with Wilhelm Dietl, the head of the Essen (!) Institute for Terrorism Research was found, who spread his suspicions about Islamic terror groups and was quoted in detail by the TAZ up to New Germany. Of course there is the danger of terrorist attacks on nuclear power plants; We have already pointed this out several times. But in this case the alleged sabotage is likely to be an extremely clumsy diversionary maneuver for those responsible. Already on March 6th, five days after the local elections and two days before the dubious TAZ and ND reports, the South African Minister for State Enterprises, Alec Erwin, had to row back and deny. On the same day, the "good news" came that the spare parts for the nuclear power plant had been found and would arrive in Cape Town in a month (3).

What remains is the obvious attempt to cloud one's own incompetence with conspiracy theories. Incidentally, the ruling ANC suffered a defeat in Cape Town. "It seems as if ESKOM - and not the police - have an immense task ahead of them. The 'sabotage' was probably negligence. Koeberg has become a political plaything" wrote "Namibia Plus-online" on March 3, 2006.

PBMR construction is delayed

The construction of the high-temperature reactor, known in South Africa as the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR), will probably not begin on time in 2007 after all. In Pelindaba, where the entire non-nuclear system of the reactor is to be tested, not even the pilot plant is ready for operation. The factory for the production of the necessary fuel elements, in which German companies are involved, is also not yet under construction. Earthlife Africa is currently focusing on economic issues in its criticism of the PBMR. The costs for the test phase of this reactor have risen from an estimated 1999 billion rand in 2 to 14,5 billion today.

Commissioning will therefore be delayed. We know that well enough from the THTR in Hamm-Uentrop. To what extent the quarrels about the Koeberg nuclear power plant will really give the opponents of nuclear power a boost remains to be seen. There are already increasing voices that, in addition to the two pressurized water reactors in Koeberg, another "normal" nuclear power plant is to be built quickly in order to be able to cover the huge electricity demand, at least in the medium term.

The irony of history: in 1982 an armed ANC commando partially destroyed the Koeberg nuclear power plant, which was under construction, thereby delaying commissioning (4). But at that time the nuclear power plant was still in the hands of the hated apartheid regime. Today, of course, it's something completely different.

"Electricity gap" also in Namibia

The nuclear breakdowns in Koeberg also affect neighboring Namibia. Here the energy requirement in the peak load range is 500 megawatts, of which only 382 megawatts are produced in-house (5). That is why there is a ten-year contract for the supply of electricity with South Africa. Because of its own energy bottlenecks, South Africa can no longer deliver and Namibia is in a jam. Saving energy was a foreign concept here too. The completely unprofitable 2006-year-old coal-fired power station "Van Eck" in Windhoek has been started up again since the beginning of January 30, although it had officially been shut down for ten years.

The energy supplier Nampower is now running campaigns to save electricity and is trying to catch up on neglected efforts in the alternative energy sector in a hurry. Only now does the head of the renewable energy program come to the following conclusion: "On average, Namibia has one of the highest levels of sunshine worldwide and the population lives widely with two people per square kilometer. As a result, a not inconsiderable part lives in areas that cannot be connected to the power grid for the foreseeable future. Renewable energies offer the solution for lighting and hot water "(6).

Information days are now being held in the various regions and Bank Windhoek is offering solar loans for the purchase of solar systems. Occasionally voices are being heard on the Internet portals calling for the introduction of an energy feed-in law for alternative electricity producers based on the German model. In the very near future, people will have to come up with some ideas in order to remedy the huge electricity gap in the next few years. This requires high investments and it is unclear where the money will come from.

Uranium and racism

In contrast, a lot of money is invested in other projects. The Australian group Rio Tinto is investing around 112 million US dollars in the additional expansion of the Rössing uranium mine, which has received approval for a production extension until 2016. "For the next two years Rössing wants to mine 4000 tons of uranium oxide annually. This increased production target should create 150 more jobs" (7) And as far as international cooperation partners are concerned, the Namibian state is very agile in this area: All possible ministries are planning intensive cooperation with China for the exploitation and processing of Namibian mineral resources.

Working in the uranium mines is very dangerous to health. That is why at least the workers' wages should be right. The 450 members of the miners' union (MUN) demonstrated in the Rössing mine for a wage increase and took company buses into town. The German-language "Allgemeine Zeitung" verbally attacked the demonstrators in the worst colonizer fashion. The union was accused of "rather stupid, rash and greedy for power" to stir up a pack and behave like a "horde gone wild". And this sheet wrote about the use of the company buses: "Here you have a daily wage deducted" (8) !! That is exactly the language of the white master race, which is obviously still as cheeky and self-confident as it used to be.

The planned new uranium mine "Langer Heinrich" has been completed to 40 percent, contrary to protests by environmentalists, and is scheduled to go into operation in September 2006 (9). The uranium is to be delivered to the USA. Preparations for the construction of yet another uranium mine are already underway: "The preliminary environmental study for the planned uranium mine on the Tekkopje was published on Monday in the Arandis town hall and put up for discussion. The company Gulf Western Trading wants to be around 70 kilometers northeast of Swakopmund (Pty) Ltd set up a uranium mine under the name UraMin (Pty) Ltd "(10)

This undesirable development in the energy sector does not remain entirely without contradiction even in the Internet forum section of the "Allgemeine Zeitung": "It's a nice cycle: The German government pays development aid to Namibia, the government in Namibia uses it to develop unprofitable uranium mines. South Africa controls the necessary, dubious ones Expert opinion at. Germany buys 'gray' uranium at increased prices and thus operates unsafe reactors. (...) As usual, the environment and the population will fall by the wayside. " The recommendation follows to read our www.thtr-a.de pages. Whatever happens.

Horst Blume

Notes:

1. General Newspaper Windhoek, March 1, 3
2. Namibia Plus Online, March 3, 3
3. General Newspaper Windhoek, March 6, 3
4. THTR Circular No. 85, 2003
5. Allgemeine Zeitung February 9, 2
6. Allgemeine Zeitung February 3, 2
7. Allgemeine Zeitung February 15, 12
8. Allgemeine Zeitung February 12, 1
9. Allgemeine Zeitung February 1, 3
10. Allgemeine Zeitung February 8, 3

In the THTR-Rundbrief we already reported in countless articles (1) about Generation IV, which also includes the high-temperature reactor. The research and development program "Generation IV" is being carried out by ten countries (2) in order to prepare the construction of nuclear reactors in the coming decades.

In the energy magazine BWK (3) 11/2005 there is a very detailed report by Walter Tromm and Thomas Schulenberg on the current state of affairs. The authors who promote entry into this reactor line in the "nuclear phase-out country" FRG are not just anyone. Tromm has been the deputy program manager of the nuclear safety research program at the Karlsruhe Research Center since 2004. Schulenberg has been the head of the Institute for Nuclear and Energy Technology in FZ Karlsruhe since 2000.

First of all, the two atomic enthusiasts are delighted in the article that since 2003, thanks to the membership of EURATOM, Germany (and thus herself) has been able to conduct highly official, really innovative nuclear research for the future. Because Generation IV is about the nuclear market of the future: The production of hydrogen and process heat is to be coupled with nuclear energy.

A really revolutionary reinterpretation of all old terms takes place in the highly innovative contribution: "Sustainability. The term implies using nuclear energy today in such a way that future generations have the opportunity to use nuclear energy to the same extent as today "!! But we can rest assured that the following reactor systems were selected by the exclusive Generation IV Club in 2002, for the future to be shortlisted:

The two scientists present the development status of the respective systems in detail and emphasize that the most important reactors for the future should be identified and further optimized through experiments and investigations. Because all types of Generation IV have different deficits and problems in common and this is where it gets interesting:

In order to be able to continue researching each of the six reactor variants, the two innovative "nuclear phase-out" scientists put the costs at (!) One billion euros per line. That is of course a bit too expensive and therefore, in their opinion, "the creation of integrated programs" is the order of the day in order to get ahead with at least one or two nuclear variants. Their timeline is as follows: "Once the implementation studies for each facility are completed, it will take at least six years and billions of dollars to fully engineer the facilities and build a demonstration facility."

With the application forms of the new reactor line, the two nuclear truffle pigs are very creative in order to make the corporations' mouth watery in view of the high costs: In addition to the process heat, the Wunder-Werke will also be involved in the production of paper raw materials, the desulfurization of heavy oils and the refining of petroleum , as well as the production of iron, cement, glass and speech bubbles. And why not when it comes to drinking water treatment? RWE already owns a large part of the world's waterworks, so that fits together perfectly ...

The one is also ready in a hurry CDU Economic Council on the spot and demanded in a press release on March 30.03.2006, XNUMX, to increase the funding of energy research with a very specific goal: "The state funding should be doubled in the medium term and Used in a technology-neutral manner will. At the same time, companies are to be made more responsible. They must do their research and development in future technologies like clean coal and nuclear power plants fourth generation strengthen."

On April 6, the FDP federal vice and NRW Minister of Innovation Andreas Pinkwart follow up again and warn in the "Welt" that "German nuclear power research is falling behind. (...) 'For example, I consider the thorium high-temperature reactor to be a future-oriented technology on the first THTR project in Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia, which was ended in the XNUMXs, saying it was a mistake.

Pinkwart sees the Federal Republic of Germany as having a 'special European responsibility' to rapidly modernize its energy policy. "The renaissance of nuclear power is taking place in two stages instead of:

During the First is linked to the HTR research under seven years of red-green and a few tens of millions more will be added over the next few years. The new nuclear options no longer need to be kept quiet as shamefully as in previous years. All of this can probably be done without problems in the grand coalition.

To the second phase To be able to tackle the concrete new construction of Generation IV nuclear power plants in Germany, we have to wait at the moment until a CDU / FDP federal government has been established in a good three years after the next federal elections. But until then, the nuclear friends can still use the time of the grand coalition excellently for preparatory research and simply carry out "difficult" activities through the European Union. That's how easy it is.

We see that in the 20th year after Chernobyl, the Federal Republic of Germany is making rapid progress with phasing out nuclear power.

Horst Blume

Notes:

(1) The following issues of the THTR-Rundbrief deal with Generation IV:

• THTR Circular No. 88: EU network for HTR further development
• THTR Circular No. 90: EU request for HTR funding
• THTR Circular No. 93: The EU has set the course for the HTR line; HTR technology and fuel cells
• THTR Circular No. 94: EU Commission: Full steam ahead for the HTR!
• THTR Circular No. 96: Civil and military technologies are merging
• THTR Circular No. 99: HTR lobby wants more EU money!
• THTR Circular No. 102: IAEA and Generation IV
• THTR Circular No. 103: HTR in the US
• THTR Circular No. 104: France wants to develop Generation IV reactors!

(2) Generation IV states are:
Argentina, Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, Switzerland and USA

(3) BWK: This is the magazine in which VEW-Atom-Grandpa Knizia is allowed to lecture under "Top-Subject" on the homepage about the advantages of the THTR.

There is little objection to research and development relating to hydrogen per se. No other energy source burns as cleanly as hydrogen - ideally, it only leaves pure water from the exhaust. Technology should therefore be researched, no question about it; it is an important option in an environmentally friendly energy system of the future. And yet the decision by the Federal Minister of Transport to start a "national hydrogen and fuel cell innovation program" has a stale aftertaste. Because it gives the impression that the engineering optimization of hydrogen filler nozzles is the decisive factor on the way to the hydrogen economy.

It is by no means. Because a sensible national energy concept is much more urgent. Anyone who only concentrates on technical aspects forgets that hydrogen is not a primary energy that can simply be used, but just an energy store. Every hydrogen must first be generated - using energy.

So whoever praises hydrogen must also say where the valuable gas will come from in the future. Generated using nuclear power? That would suit the nuclear lobby. From fossil fuels? Then you'd better fill up your car with natural gas right away. Or from renewable sources? In principle the only sensible solution - but only in the long term, because for years to come it will be more ecologically and economically sensible in all industrialized countries to feed all the green electricity generated into the grid and thus replace other energy sources. Because the conversion losses during hydrogen generation are too high. (From: TAZ, 15.03.2006/XNUMX/XNUMX)

The well-known US researcher Joseph J. Roman has in his current book "The hydrogen boom"(Verlag Willey-VCH) clearly demonstrated the limits of this technology. Martin Koch reports it in his book review (in the ND of March 27.03.2006, XNUMX, available on our homepage) as follows:" The required hydrogen has to be generated in a complex manner and, if necessary, transported over long distances . Both cost a lot of money. There are also cracks in tanks and pipes significant security risk. It is well known that hydrogen can ignite easily; its ignition energy is twenty times less than that of natural gas or petrol. "

Horst Blume

***

Dear readers!

On April 2, the ZDF reported on the radioactive ones late in the evening PAC beads, the GKSS and the sensational leukemia cases around Geesthacht. In the three days that followed, over various search words were used 7000 hits on our website, since the PAC beads were also used in the THTR. Newsletter NO. 82 thus advanced to become the most-read edition of all. A week later, the same thing happened when the GKSS report was shortened on the "Mona Lisa" program.

So that we can continue our successful work, we remind you that not only the paper version of the newsletter, but also the website MONEY costs. So we ask for one on the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl Donation.

***

Top

***

Donation appeal - The THTR-Rundbrief is published by 'BI Umwelt Hamm e. V. ' - Postfach 1242 - 59002 Hamm and 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 Purpose: THTR circular IBAN: DE31 4105 0095 0000 0394 79 BIC: WELADED1HAM

***

Top

***