The reactor bankruptcy - THTR 300 The THTR Circular
Studies on THTR and much more. The THTR breakdown list
The HTR research The THTR incident in the 'Spiegel'

The THTR Circulars from 2007

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THTR Circular No. 117, Nov. 2007


More HTR funding, but hurtado!

This year there will be a lot of advertising for the HTR line again. The Stuttgart Unikurier wrote in its 1/2007 issue: “More than 80 scientists and students from all over Europe traveled to Stuttgart from March 27 to 29, 2007 for the first Eurocourse on modular high-temperature reactor technology. The course, which the Institute for Nuclear Energy Systems (IKE) carried out on behalf of the European Union as part of the RAPHAEL project, was very well received.

Modular HTRs are recognized by experts as safe nuclear reactors. They were developed by Siemens almost 30 years ago and successfully completed the approval process in accordance with Section 1989 of the Atomic Energy Act in 7. "- This miracle reactor was so successful that the THTR in Hamm had to be shut down in the same year. Because there is currently no HTR in operation in Europe, the would-be disaster control room drivers who were prevented had to be satisfied with one vision: "Finally, an exercise was on the program in which the participants could independently perform simulation calculations on a virtual, modular high-temperature reactor."

On March 8, 2007, Dieter Hartmann asked the "Energy facts" from the Technology Transfer Initiative at the University of Stuttgart: “Does the high-temperature reactor have a chance?” So far, in his opinion, the HTR has only been granted the status of a “reserve solution” if other nuclear concepts cannot meet the challenges. But if more favorable safety concepts, more environmental compatibility and greater use of more thermally efficient systems are required in the future, then the time for the HTR would still come, he concluded. But: In contrast to other systems, the HTR will remain “dependent on the external supply of fission materials”. It won't be a perpetual motion machine.

That knows that too German Atomic Forum. In its 2006 annual report, it reports on the ongoing research in Jülich and the winding European secret routes, as research is being carried out on the further development of the HTR line in Germany despite the withdrawal: “This work is carried out within the framework of the EU-IP RAPHAEL, where the FZJ is the head of WP3. Further investigations into the repository behavior are planned in the new EU project CARBOWASTE, which is currently being applied for. “We already reported in detail about RAPHAEL in THTR circular no. In this context, it is interesting to include another university: “The university Zittau / Görlitz (FH) is involved in the EU-funded RAPHAEL project within the 6th framework program ”(p. 67). In the propaganda pamphlet “Good Reasons for Nuclear Energy”, the Atomic Forum wrote in September 2007: “Experts around the world are working intensively on the implementation of new reactor technologies. Ten countries, including the USA, France, Japan and Great Britain, have launched the 'Generation IV' project. Due to political decisions, Germany is unfortunately not directly involved in this program. ”The indirect participation is already whistling the sparrows from the roof. This hint from the nuclear lobby is intended to demonstrate quite deliberately that ways and means can be found to circumvent national bans. In the ministries, universities and institutes, they are all busily formulating the funding applications for their nuclear careers. They are no longer submitted in Berlin, but in Brussels. That is the difference.

Hurtado helps HTR research

One of the people who understood the difference is Professor Antonio Hurtado. The Spaniard studied - how could it be otherwise - in Aachen under the father of all THTRs, Professor Kugeler, and published a number of studies on the HTR line together with him in 1990/91. The Technical University of Dresden announced in a press release on August 7, 8:
“New to them Technical University Dresden Antonio Hurtado was appointed. He is a professor of hydrogen and nuclear energy technology and his field is particularly high-temperature reactors of the so-called Generation IV and the resulting opportunities to generate hydrogen economically as a versatile energy carrier in high-temperature processes. (...) With the appointment of Antonio Hurtado to the professorship for hydrogen and nuclear energy technology, the Technical University of Dresden is setting an important and forward-looking mark. The focus of his teaching and research activities will be in particular high-temperature reactors of the so-called Generation IV as well as the resulting opportunities to produce hydrogen economically as a versatile energy carrier in high-temperature processes.

Professor Hurtado will work very closely with the Institute for Security Research at the Research Center Dresden-Rossendorf (FZD). This institute, headed by Frank-Peter Weiß, is one of the few remaining non-university centers in Germany in which nuclear safety research is carried out. Research on reactor dynamics, the safety of reactor materials and thermal hydraulics takes place here in an international network. It is planned that Prof. Hurtado will lead a working group at this institute. "

This coup was only possible because the grand coalition had long since put the exit from nuclear power on file and wants to secure a better starting position for German nuclear research in the race for EU funding for HTR research.
 
As a newly appointed professor, Professor Hurtado has meanwhile introduced himself very sensitively into the depths of the German people's soul with the lecture “Energy and environmental issues on the island of Mallorca”. Since the reactor pressure vessel for the South African PBMR is currently being produced in Spain, why not another one for Mallorca? The grateful nuclear fans would be one attraction richer there, because here in the FRG, unfortunately, such a miracle can only be viewed as a ruin.

What's next this year? - HTR veteran Dr. from Lensa, Vice-President of the European "HTR Technology Network" will speak on November 27, 11 at 2007 pm about Generation IV and HTR development at the Kerntechnischen Gesellschaft (Erlangen / Nuremberg section) in Grafenreinfeld.

PBMR: graphite spheres for leukemia!

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Firms in the Federal Republic of Germany earn a golden nose with nuclear deals. Despite the “nuclear phase-out”, this is nothing new. But it is very interesting to see how certain historical continuities affect the future.

Let's take the scandal company NUKEMwhich has a high symbolic value in the 80s with an unprecedented bribery system and lubricated disposal. Last year, an absolute "isolated case" became known in which a NUKEM manager tried to bribe those responsible for the Chernobyl reactor in order to gain advantages. Since 2000, NUKEM has been involved in the construction of the South African Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) by performing the basic engineering and accident analyzes. On August 10, 8, NUKEM reported further activities:

“This fourth contract between NUKEM and PBMR underlines the good cooperation between the two companies. NUKEM has been active in the South African PBMR project since 2000. NUKEM is responsible for the basic and detailed engineering of three of the four most important processes for the manufacture of the spherical fuel elements as well as for two of the processes for the recycling of production residues. The fuel element production is based on the former production of fuel elements at NUKEM / HOBEG, where fuel elements were manufactured for the German high-temperature reactors THTR and AVR. The PBMR fuel assembly in Pelindaba, approx. 50 km northwest of Pretoria, is being built to ensure the fuel supply for the planned pebble bed reactor. "

In a press release dated October 9, 10, it was again emphasized that this company will “concentrate” in particular on HTR development in the future. How unabashedly the NUKEM Group messes up everything that is currently available for propaganda purposes is shown by the fact that it has recently been decorating its website with the motto of the peace movement: "Swords to plowshares" in its activities "Buying and marketing Russian uranium components" !

The next company has long-term contacts to South Africa and is expanding rapidly thanks to the nuclear business: The SGL Carbon with its production site in Meitingen (near Augsburg), headquarters in Wiesbaden and a branch in South Africa. This is also about the provision of nuclear fuel. On October 1, 10, the Augsburger Allgemeine reported:

“SGL Carbon recently put a machining center for nuclear graphite into operation in Meitingen. As SGL project manager Maik Baumblüth has now informed, nuclear graphite is required for pebble bed reactors - these are surrounded on the inside by reflectors made of graphite. According to the company, it has invested seven million euros in the new machining center. This secured 40 jobs, 20 of them at the Meitingen location. (...) It is a 'great reactor', says SGL project manager Baumblüth into raptures (...). The graphite is manufactured in Germany and France and processed in Meitingen. Then it comes in climate-proof packaging and is shipped to South Africa. The new pebble bed reactor planned there should go into operation between 2010 and 2012. The new machining center for nuclear graphite in Meitingen is a "milestone in our competence", emphasized Baumblüth. It was erected within just 14 months and it was bought together with the South African customer PBMR Ltd. can initiate. "

However, it does not fit in with this nuclear mood of optimism that recently concerned residents of the planned PBMR near Koeberg are asking us as a citizens' initiative to be able to distribute the content of our homepage. It started in a similar way in Hamm-Uentrop in 1975.

For NUKEM see also the THTR circulars No. 101 (2005), No. 107 (2006) and No.110 (2007).
For SGL Carbon see also THTR circular No. 102 (2005)

Uranium Conference: The Resistance Networks Internationally!

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More than 100 environmentalists from Russia, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary and Germany met in Dortmund on September 22nd. The initiators rightly rate the high number of participants and the constructive course as a complete success and will give the citizens' initiatives further impetus. The large nationwide participation also shows that the resistance against the uranium enrichment plant in Gronau is now supported by many groups. The final declaration states:

“Around 40 domestic and foreign groups and organizations called for the conference. Numerous topics related to uranium enrichment were lively and enthusiastically discussed in specialist lectures and workshops. In a joint declaration, the conference participants rejected the further use of uranium in general: both global uranium mining, further processing of uranium and use for military purposes must be stopped immediately due to the great dangers. The participants expressly demanded the immediate shutdown of all uranium enrichment plants, as they are only used for the continued operation of the nuclear power plants and the construction of atomic bombs. In Germany, the multinational Urenco Group operates a uranium enrichment plant in Gronau.

Today's uranium conference is an important contribution to the cross-border networking of the anti-nuclear power movement in order to be able to offer effective resistance against the international nuclear industry. The world's largest uranium enricher, Urenco, is active around the globe. Behind the uranium industry are governments and large corporations such as EON, RWE and AREVA. The uranium industry is also massively subsidized. Uranium mining, the enrichment and storage of depleted uranium waste endanger the health of the population and the natural foundations of life in many countries. That is completely unacceptable. "

The BI Umweltschutz Hamm was represented with several participants at this conference, because a train with the highly dangerous uranium hexafluoride to Gronau travels through Hamm from Pierrelatte in the south of France. In one of the five working groups, this transport in particular was examined more closely. Using various examples, the previous resistance in several cities along the transport route was shown and newcomers from other cities were informed. The optimization of the early detection of uranium transports, the improvement of coordination and press work were discussed in detail so that even more people can be warned of the dangerous transports in the future.

The reports from the countries were particularly interesting Russia, Netherlands, France and Swedenall of which have been translated. Thanks to the international networking of our activities, important successes are already visible: The media response has become much better than it used to be. The uranium transports via Rotterdam and the Baltic Sea to Russia, for example, are closely monitored and accompanied by critical activities. The final declaration states:

“In the last 10 years, around 100 t of uranium has been transported from Germany, the Netherlands, France and Great Britain to Russia, where the uranium waste is stored in three places under catastrophic conditions in the open meadow. We consider this unscrupulous deportation of highly dangerous nuclear waste to be criminal. We therefore demand the immediate stop of these uranium waste shipments to Russia.

The disposal of uranium waste is completely unclear. Enrichment of uranium produces massive amounts of depleted uranium as waste. However, nuclear waste cannot be safely disposed of.

The participants affirm that there is no separation between the military and the so-called civil uranium use - neither in Iran, nor in Russia, Brazil or anywhere else. We want the uranium to stay in the ground: the nuclear waste must be prevented before it is created. We advocate the use of renewable energy sources and call for resistance against the uranium industry.

Specifically, it was agreed at the uranium conference to expand international cooperation between the various groups and organizations. The next step is the "European Anti Nuclear Manifestation" from 9-11. November in Helsinki. In addition, the participants call for joint protest actions against the delivery of natural uranium from Pierrelatte in southern France to Gronau / D and Almelo / NL. In addition, the protests against the uranium waste transports from Gronau and Almelo to Russia are being intensified. In 2008 a joint European day of action against the uranium industry will be held for the first time. "

The Press coverage to the uranium conference can be seen. TAZ, Junge Welt and Neues Deutschland reported. But also the Ruhr news in Dortmund and the Westphalian news in Gronau. The most detailed reporting took place shortly before the conference in Hamm. The Westfälischer Anzeiger with the article “Radiation on the track” (September 18, 9) and almost a whole page with two photos in the high-circulation “Wochenblatt”: “West Fire Brigade Base: 'Absurd'. Hammer citizens' initiative goes to the uranium congress in Dortmund ”.

Matthias Eickhoff gives an overview of this year's hopeful activities against the uranium industry: "The resistance against the uranium enrichment plants in Gronau and Almelo / NL and the associated Europe-wide uranium transports are becoming more international and are now reaching the corporate headquarters of the German shareholders EON and RWE as well as the federal government. That is the most important conclusion of the committed spring campaign of anti-nuclear power initiatives. After the G8 summit, the protests are expected to be expanded. The anti-nuclear movement is pursuing several threads in its fight against the multinational uranium enrichment company Urenco, which complement each other and have brought new momentum to the UAA resistance for a year. Nobody talks about them anymore UAA Gronau is politically enforced and resistance is in fact no longer possible, as heard from some quarters in 2005 after the red-green state government of North Rhine-Westphalia granted the expansion permit.

Instead, actions against uranium transports are taking place in more and more countries. On May 12, around 60 people symbolically blocked the tracks at the Franco-German border station in Perl, via which the UAA Gronau from Pierrelatte in southern France is supplied with "fresh" natural uranium. French initiatives agreed to set up their own network to combat this uranium transport in the future. Background: In Germany, the uranium deposits from Pierrelatte are the first stage of the atomic spiral, hence the plausible motto of the campaign "Prevent nuclear waste before it arises."

At the other end of Europe, anti-nuclear power initiatives from Finland also protested against uranium waste exports for the first time Russia. In the past 12 years, Urenco has already brought more than 80 t of depleted uranium from Gronau, Almelo and Capenhurst / GB to Russia for final disposal. On May 000th, another mega-train with almost 9 t of depleted uranium to Russia started in Gronau. There were protests along the route in around ten locations between Gronau, Münster and Hengelo / NL. With around 1000 people, the protests were much stronger than in the last two years. The train had to stop briefly twice in Münsterland and the police organized a large-scale operation with a BGS hundred and a helicopter. In the Netherlands, a train accident caused several hours of delay, and in the port of Rotterdam, Greenpeace Netherlands protested for the first time against the departure of the uranium ship. The uranium ship MV Doggersbank then sailed around Denmark and between Copenhagen and Malmö through the Öresund before it went to St. Petersburg between Helsinki and Tallinn. In Russia in the Siberian Angarsk near Irkutsk, where one of the Russian UAAs is located, 160 (!) People demonstrated against the import of Western European uranium waste, among other things. The protests there have already reached a dimension of their own.

EON and RWE: targeting masterminds
The corporate headquarters of EON and RWE are also increasingly confronted with the uranium business of their associated companies. The environmental organization urgewald organized critical appearances by opponents of nuclear power from several European countries at the respective shareholders' meetings in April and May in order to denounce the unrestrained nuclear policy of the corporations. An important topic here: uranium enrichment and uranium waste export to Russia. Answering the detailed questions was visibly uncomfortable for the EON board of directors, especially since the concerted appearance seriously disrupted the harmonious atmosphere of the show dates.

EON either could not or did not want to confirm what actually happened there with the uranium delivered to Russia. And the managers don't seem to care either - the main thing is to get away from Gronau. Speaking of which: EON's entry into the Finnish nuclear market was stopped at the beginning of May by the intensive efforts of the Finnish anti-nuclear movement! The increasing entanglements with the Russian government became clear at the EON shareholders' meeting. EON board member Burckhard Bergmann is not only the Russian honorary consul, but also a member of the Gazprom board of directors - together with several Russian members of the government! A short line to the Russian government in matters of uranium business is of course guaranteed.

These facts show how important a content-oriented work in the anti-nuclear area is. In connection with the EON / RWE campaigns and the international symposium that was organized by Dutch anti-nuclear initiatives in Almelo at the end of April, significant progress was made here. But much is still in the dark, there is no reason to lean back. But one thing is clear: Without the tireless work of the active people, nothing would be known to the public about the uranium transports. The good research work is now grudgingly recognized even by the Urenco. At the beginning of May, the head of Urenco Germany, Ohnemus, confirmed an uranium transport to AKU Gronau for the first time in advance with the words: 'Yes, he's driving. You know that anyway. '"From: Grassroots Revolution No. 320)

On the trail of the Atom wikis

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In the last issue of the THTR-Rundbrief we announced an article on Wikipedia and the activities of the nuclear industry. What methods does the nuclear lobby use to influence public discussions and Wikipedia in order to eliminate critical voices? How does she try to create a climate of opinion that is agreeable to her?

Would you like a little experiment on this? Gladly: First of all, take two small errors in the last THTR circular as “ingredients”. The author of the atw article (6/2007) on THTR cited there has a different first name than Dittrich, who is the project manager of the plant of the same name and the biological shield was of course dismantled in 2006 in the smaller HTR in Jülich. Now speculate on the vanity of those involved, measure the reaction time in order to quantify the intensity of observation of our homepage by the nuclear friends: How reliably, thoroughly and quickly do they react to our activities? How many days would you contact me? - Days!?! - Exactly 14 hours after the newsletter was posted on the Internet, we received the humorous correction of your error by email.

The processes on which the largely embellished representation of the THTR shutdown on Wikipedia is based are not at all humorous. It says: "In addition to the problems mentioned, an incident with an assumed leakage of radioactivity on May 4, 1986 as well as safety and economic considerations led to the decision to decommission the THTR-1 on September 1989, 300."

Subordinate exit !! - If this sentence had been disseminated in the first years after 1986 by an information service that would by itself claim a certain independence and neutrality, then it would have made a complete fool of itself in public. Obviously, 20 years later, things look different. At the very bottom under the operator link there was also a link to our homepage in the Wikipedia article. That was of course a thorn in the side of a tireless watchdog this summer. As a result, it was deleted by him and an alternative source of information was censored away for a moment. What followed was a long fifteen-minute squabble. Extinguish. Reinstall. Extinguish. The nuclear industry obviously has enough people who have the time to do it.

Quite a few doctoral candidates and other career-conscious people are eager to ingratiate themselves with their (future) bosses as compliant henchmen in the spread of embellished nuclear propaganda.

The procedure is organized and discussed, among other things, in the Kerntechnischen Gesellschaft (KTG). Under the sixth item on the agenda of the 17th meeting of the KTG specialist group "Use of Nuclear Technology" on April 21.04.2007, XNUMX in Merseburg, it says quite clearly: "Further lectures on the subject: Wikipedia. Public relations and work in schools. ”In their position paper, these tireless fighters for their own highly paid jobs write:

“An exit from nuclear energy consequently has a negative effect on our society and calls out depending on the degree of its implementation Sorrow (No joke !!, HB). This will be generally recognized in a few decades at the latest. In order to accelerate this process of knowledge and thus to minimize the negative effects of the currently propagated exit route, the specialist group was founded with the following goals:
    * Communicating the benefits of nuclear technology
    * Risks of non-use are orders of magnitude greater than risks of use
    * Reduction of ignorance about nuclear technology
    * Information about the function and safety of nuclear Investments
    * Improving the acceptance of nuclear energy
    * Reduction of fears about nuclear technology
   * Public advocacy for the need for the operation and further development of nuclear power plants ... "

According to its own statements, the work of this group explicitly includes “communications to tendentious television or radio broadcasts”, “elaboration and correction of short specialist information” and of course the “provision of this information on the Internet”.

The nuclear power lobbyists shamelessly take advantage of Wikipedia's open participation structures to spread their nuclear propaganda. Axel Meyer from BUND wrote on www.vorort.bund.net on August 16, 8: “Take a look (to choose just one example) the Wiki page on the Leibstadt nuclear power plant. Texts, photos and graphics (as of summer 2007) could come directly from a prospectus of the nuclear companies. Links to the pages of the nuclear power plant operators are available. Links to critical sites, such as those of the BUND, are usually deleted by the "watchdogs" after a quarter of an hour. In return, anti-atom sites (mitwelt.org) quickly migrate to the wiki spam sites.

In the wiki forums, the deletion of links to critical pages is often justified with the charge of ideology. The operator information is of course "neutral, value-free" and therefore suitable for wikia. (...) The graphics for the function of the nuclear power plant and many photos come mostly from the advertising departments of the nuclear industry. The functional representations convey the illusion of closed cycles in the nuclear power plants. There is not a single word on radioactivity release via exhaust chimneys and sewage.

It is perverse when the article on the core meltdown in Lucens 'Swiss experimental reactor contains the following sentence:' From today's perspective, the Lucens accident must be described as a successful failure. The incident made it possible to improve the handling of critical situations in terms of reactor and safety technology. '"

A comprehensive description of a technology also includes naming the dangers and risks associated with it or the incidents that have already occurred.

So that the public is not manipulated as shamelessly as before, we must definitely become more vigilant and active. It is doubtful whether the problem can be dealt with in the future by means of a system of marking “reliable representations” and closer cooperation with “experienced authors” (ND of September 25, 9). With its auxiliaries and financial resources, the nuclear industry will quickly find new loopholes.

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