The THTR Circulars from 2005

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THTR Circular No. 96, January 2005

NRW state government on the THTR:

Where is the concept for after 2009?

It has become very quiet around the THTR Hamm. Even 15 years after its official shutdown, the 3,034 million euros in shutdown costs are still being paid for the nuclear industry every year despite tight public budgets. That should go on until 2009.

"The federal, state and shareholders will get in touch in good time about the financing for the phase after 2009," wrote us in 1997 the operating company HKG. In the same year the HKG announced in the WA: "However, it is also quite conceivable that further dismantling of the nuclear ruins could take place before the end of these 30 years." Now the citizens certainly have a right to know how the legacies of the nuclear industry will be dealt with in the next few years. There are only four years left until 2009. Does the NRW state government have specific ideas about what should happen to the bankruptcy in its opinion and is it trying to urge the electricity industry to finally pay a share of the closure costs? We would like to know that before the state elections in May 2005 and asked on January 3, 1 with a longer questionnaire which can be viewed on our homepage. It may be the last chance for the time being to find out what the red-green state government is up to, because it cannot be completely ruled out that it will be voted out of office. A good four months should be enough for an answer. Usually. When the state government knows what it wants. And if she wants to say that before the state election. - The red-green federal government is in no hurry to answer the Great request 15/2528 of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group on the future of the high-temperature reactor in Germany (see RB No. 93). We have also been waiting since April 2004 !!

As was reported later on October 21.10.2004, 10 in the 04/10 issue of "atw" (nuclear industry), Dieter Herrmann (Fichtner Consulting & IT GmbH, Stuttgart) held the lecture "A qualitative model approach for the long-term development of nuclear energy as session leader of Section XNUMX in the context of global energy production ". He finally showed - obviously completely unaffected by the German "nuclear phase-out" - the following perspective: "And with regard to the future development of global energy supply, there is a lot to suggest that the three qualitatively different reactor types LWR, SBR and HTR will successively play a similar role as 'primary energy sources supporting progress'. "

In section 2 (thermodynamics and fluid dynamics) one article dealt more specifically with the HTR:

"The fourth contribution by N. Ben Said (Institute for Nuclear Energy and Energy Systems - IKE - of the University of Stuttgart) was entitled 'Thermofluiddynamic Models and Analyzes for the High temperature reactor with solid graphite column in the middle. Ben Said explained the physical principles of the two-dimensional Thermix code, which he used to calculate the temperature distribution in an HTR with a ring-shaped core cross-section and a thermal output of 400MW. He presented the results of sample calculations on the failure of the coolant forced circulation, both at low and high pressure. The calculations indicate that after the reactor has been shut down, even in the worst case (low pressure), such a high power can be delivered from the core to a cylindrical surface cooler that surrounds it, that the temperatures of the core structures throughout the entire incident are below 1500^o C stay. Thus, the inclusion of the fuel is not endangered by the release of the decay power. "(P. 619)

I already referred to this research project of the IKE at the University of Stuttgart in THTR circular no. 79. On the official homepage of the university in August 2001 one could read: "With the increasing interest in gas-cooled high-temperature reactors (HTR) in the world since 1990, development efforts for the further development of this type of reactor were stopped in the meantime newly recorded. In addition to the increasing demand for electrical energy, especially in the emerging and developing countries, the main driver was the intention to build reactors of this type in series, especially in South Africa, based on the German HTR module. "

As reported in THTR-Rundbrief No. 94, the French group CEA (Commissariat al`Energie Atomique) in cooperation with the Research Center Karlsruhe re-produced the radioactive PAC beads required for the HTR. CEA merged with Framatome, Cogema, Siemens and KWU to form the umbrella group AREVA. A name that you have to remember for the future.

"Atw" (28/12), published on December 2004, 12, wrote in the large, seven-page company profile: "AREVA is the only company in the world that is active in the entire nuclear fuel cycle and offers services for energy transmission and distribution. (.. .) The company is determined to play a major role in revitalizing the world's nuclear energy market - Also in Germany - a maximum of employment secured and the option of nuclear energy as a safe, economical and environmentally friendly energy source kept open for future generations. (...) Similar to Framatome ANP as a whole, the nuclear fuel business line is also set up in a matrix organization: the three business lines Design & Sales, Zirconium and Manufacturing work worldwide across all three regions.

This globality is an important factor for competitiveness, as the business area is able to serve the markets in Europe, the USA and Asia and to use synergies in research and development. (...) In addition, the AREVA group is also working on future reactor technologies like that 'Maximum temperature reactor' (Very High Temperature Reactor - VHTR). These so-called '4th generation reactors' can be used commercially in 20 to 30 years. In the longer term, they should complement the existing reactor lines and open up new fields of application such as process heat, drinking water production from seawater and hydrogen production. (...) In Germany around 6.000 employees work in this field (energy technology, RB) for the AREVA Group, around 3.000 of them each for Framatome ANP GmbH and AREVA T&D. "

The article also emphasizes that numerous components (reactor pressure vessels, etc.) are shipped all over the world, including to South Africa. According to "atw", the matrix structure of Framatome ANP as part of the AREVA group in Germany is given as follows:

If an economically powerful corporation like AREVA is declared to be very interested and committed to HTR technology, this will undoubtedly have serious consequences for the future. The AREVA Group is a classic example of how an internationalized corporate structure with branches in 40 countries and 30 percent of the installed nuclear power plant capacity worldwide can effortlessly ignore national decisions (such as an exit from nuclear power). If there are difficulties anywhere, the company simply switches to a production or research location in another country. AREVA does not need this in Germany, however. Here, with government support, research into nuclear power is being continued. It's just called safety research and competence maintenance!

Horst Blume

"Even in 2005, hardly any money will flow into security research in the EU. Only with the beginning of the 7th Research Framework Program (2007 to 2010) - in which security research is to be embedded - the funding pots are likely to increase. But it is still unclear how much money will flow: Because in the financial perspective of the EU, its medium-term financial plan, there is no money for it. That should be a bit of clarity April 2005 bring: Then the first proposals for the 7th research framework program of the EU should be available. (...) The European Commission does not want to strengthen military security research by promoting security research. Its strategy is to promote technologies and processes that can be used both militarily and civilly. 'Civil and military research are a continuum,' said Pieter de Smet of the Commission's Research Directorate-General. The EU commission wants to do the security research in the context of their so-called Lisbon Strategy *** Boosting Europe's Economic Performance - Integrate. (...) The new calls for proposals for the continuation of the PASR program (preparatory measure) are for January 2005 expected."

So that the nuclear industry doesn’t miss out on energy research, it stopped Hermann Josef Wagner, Chairman of the Society for Energy Technology VDI-GET and holder of the Chair for Energy Systems and Energy Economics at the Ruhr University Bochum, in his article in the "VDI-Nachrichten" on 14.01.2005 In an international comparison, energy research in Germany appears to be underfunded at the moment. For the period to 2015 In his opinion, the following priorities should be set: "Further research on reactor safety and the storage of nuclear waste, also under the aspect of remaining able to talk internationally."

The long-term energy research should, after the long-standing member in advisory boards of national and international research organizations beyond 2015 include: "Even if the federal government has decided to phase out the economic use of nuclear energy, at least one should monitor international efforts to achieve this Development of new reactor types It is clear that this atomic lobbylist is also just waiting for the next opportunity to be able to conduct nuclear research completely unbridled again.

*** At the Lisbon EU special summit in 1999, the EU decided on the largest neoliberal Mass impoverishment program after the Second World War, so that in future EU capital can reap even greater profits at the expense of the poor in competition with the USA and Asia. With Agenda 2 and Hartz IV, the red-green social robbery is only the first stage of the program that was decided at the time. Few in 2010 understood the full implications of what it was all about. Hardly anyone believed that they would actually implement that.

Horst Blume

Nuclear waste should roll right after the NRW state elections. Now the cat is out of the bag: The NRW state government has agreed with the Saxon state government on a two-week motorway spectacle for the transport of the 18 castors from the former GDR research center Dresden-Rossendorf. 

The concept of the anti-nuclear initiatives is therefore designed in two ways. As much pressure as possible should be generated in advance in order to tip the transports at least before the summer break. Due to the planned time window and the tight schedule, this is definitely possible. In February there is an action weekend in the Münsterland (see appendix). In March and April, the transport routes are to be examined more closely. On May 1st a resistance camp and the May Festival of the BI Ahaus will take place in Ahaus. And on the Sunday of the NRW state elections, an extraordinary Sunday walk will take place on May 22nd, to make it as difficult as possible for the red-green state and federal government with their nuclear plans.

Matthew Eickhoff

Dates:

19. February: Supraregional resistance advice in Münster. The WigA invites all interested parties to a meeting against the Dresden-Ahaus-Castors in order to prepare resistance actions for the spring and the transports. Unorganized opponents of nuclear power are also addressed.

20. February, 14 p.m .: Big Sunday stroll in Ahaus. The start of a hot spring in the Münsterland.

Further information: www.wigatom.de, www.bi-ahaus.de, www.castorstopp-dresden.de

Resistance costs money !! Donations are welcome: Florian Kollmann, keyword "Castor", account 424 255 464, Postbank Dortmund, bank code 440 100 46

The state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) cannot and must not wash its hands in innocence if it ostensibly rejects Castor transports from Rossendorf to Ahaus, but remains silent on other nuclear transports. The Environment Working Group (AKU) Gronau criticizes the fact that the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has always approved the expansion of the uranium enrichment plant (UAA) in the Westphalian town of Gronau without any problems.

According to information from the anti-nuclear scene, the NRW state government is obviously planning the next expansion stage for the uranium enrichment plant (UAA) in February Gronau to approve. Then around 35 large nuclear power plants from Gronau could be supplied with uranium fuel. While uranium enrichment is so explosive in Iran that the country ends up on the "axis of evil", the Düsseldorf state government sees the expansion of the UAA purely as economic development. Not a word is said that the "father of the Pakistani atomic bomb" once worked as an intern at the operating company Urenco and made atomic bomb construction possible with Urenco technology). The military side of uranium enrichment is kept secret. 

Matthew Eickhoff

After all, a uranium enrichment plant (UAA) is operated on the parish property, writes the "Junge Welt" on January 21.01.2005, XNUMX.

The discussion about the future of the Gronau uranium enrichment plant has begun to stir. According to a report in the Austrian newspaper "Der Standard", the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed El Baradei is calling for a five-year moratorium on uranium enrichment worldwide, as uranium enrichment is a mandatory preliminary stage for building atomic bombs.

The moratorium demand is to be discussed in May at an international conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York. This would also affect the planned massive expansion of the uranium enrichment plant (UAA) in Gronau.

The anti-nuclear power initiatives in Münsterland therefore demand that the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia not grant the requested approval for the expansion of the UAA. The demand of the IAEA chief shows how explosive uranium enrichment is viewed in terms of foreign policy. In particular, the military usability for building atomic bombs in Iran, North Korea and Pakistan is a component of uranium enrichment that has long been underestimated. We remind you that the Pakistani atomic bomb also goes back to the enrichment technology of the Gronau operating company Urenco. The Pakistani "father of the atomic bomb" had through his work in the Urenco appropriate blueprints smuggled to Pakistan and later built the atomic bomb. Germany trained numerous Pakistani nuclear scientists. The uranium enrichment is becoming even more explosive due to the plans that have now become known, according to which neoconservative strategists in the USA are using the Iranian government's nuclear policy as an opportunity to work out specific acts of war against Iran

We are outraged that the NRW state government is still evaluating the UAA in Gronau as a purely civil chemical plant and has been expanding it intensively for years. In particular, NRW Energy Minister Horstmann (SPD) and his ministry are considered uncritical supporters of the UAA within the state government. But even the state Greens have offered little resistance to Urenco's expansion plans. According to previously unconfirmed information, the state government intends to approve the expansion from 1800 to 4500 tons of separation work this February. This would undermine the state government's international efforts to limit uranium enrichment worldwide.

We demand clear statements from the state government for the state elections in May 2005 on how they intend to shut down the UAA Gronau. Anyone who wants to get out of nuclear energy is not allowed to produce new fuel for ever more nuclear power plants and has to completely stop militarily dangerous projects.

In protest, the anti-nuclear power initiatives call for a Sunday stroll at the UAA in Gronau 6. February at 14 p.m. to demonstrate for the immediate closure of the UAA.

Citizens' initiative "No nuclear waste in Ahaus", resistance against atomic plants (WIGA) Münster, action alliance Münsterland against atomic plants, people against atomic plants (Mega) Waltrop

Comment by René Heilig in the ND of December 29, 12 on the effects of the tsunami in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu: "The murderous sea tides killed 30 employees of the Kalpakkam nuclear power plant. 1500 people from the area have been evacuated. The existential sentence of the report is: The nuclear power station was shut down as a precaution. It seems as if the chalice has once again passed millions of people. Because experts know scenarios of what happens if ... The power supply to the reactor collapses ..., emergency shutdowns become impossible ..., the reactor cannot tame its radiant energy ... The consequences would be those of the original tsunami wave Hardly comparable. Nonsense? No. French nuclear power plants on the Atlantic coast suffered something similar years ago in a simple flood until shortly before the general end. (...) "

The article "The atomic triangle" from THTR-RB No. 95 received a lot of attention. In the "Graswurzelrevolution" No. 295 it was also printed in a slightly different form and reflected on the homepage: www.grassroots.net.

The spokesman for the West German peace movement Strutynski asked about a reprint of the circular. The official homepage of the peace movement www.uni-kassel.de/fb05/frieden was visited a total of 2004 million times in 5,6!

The newspaper "Strahlentelex" (www.strahltelex.de), who also takes care of the THTR-PAC beads and Geesthacht, will reprint the article in February.

The southern German homepage www.lebenshaus-alb.de also included the article on their homepage.

The SZ reprinted on January 3, 1 an English-language article from "The New York Times" on the subject.

Shortly before the NRW state elections, the military-political dimension of the NRW nuclear industry is increasingly coming into the focus of the critical public.

The great current report of the TAZ-NRW about the THTR can be found on our homepage.

1 million euro jobs for Laurenz - 1 euro jobs for millions!

"Friday, April 8, 2005 19.00:XNUMX p.m. (!). Luther Center

Farewell to the welfare state? Social security systems in transition

Speaker: Laurenz Meyer, Member of the Bundestag Admission: EUR 3

Born in Salzkotten in 1948; 1975 Examination for a degree in economics at the University of Münster. After completing his studies, he worked at VEW AG in Dortmund, among other things, as commercial director in the Arnsberg district office. (...)

Evangelical Academy Hamm, church district Hamm (...) Donate for the work of our academy, as well as thematic suggestions, are always welcome. "

That's what I call perfect timing so shortly before the NRW state elections. "Expenses" - and social robber baron Laurenz, who also unabashedly gives a long interview to the right-wing extremists and to the "Junge Freiheit" discussed on nine pages in the NRW constitutional protection report, explains precisely these brave Christians and unbelievers. So that as many people as possible can find out about this memorable event, the THTR-Rundbrief has a larger contingent of the appropriately "Threatened Future?" titled leaflets and left it to the national media such as Spiegel and Co. However, whether the numerous unemployed people who will surely come to this event have a great desire to pay the cashier three euros as well, can confidently be doubted. And if the event has to be canceled for any reason, this would also be worth reporting for: Laurenz, Part 19.

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

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