Germany set to abandon nuclear power for good

[highplainsdem]

Source: AP

Germany set to abandon nuclear power for good
By JUERGEN BAETZ, Associated Press
Associated Press March 23, 2011 07:32 AM
Wednesday, March 23, 2011


(03-23) 07:32 PDT BERLIN, Germany (AP) --

-snip-

The world's fourth-largest economy stands alone among leading industrialized nations in its decision to stop using nuclear energy because of its inherent risks. It is betting billions on expanding the use of renewable energy to meet power demands instead.

The transition was supposed to happen slowly over the next 25 years, but is now being accelerated in the wake of Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant disaster, which Chancellor Angela Merkel has called a "catastrophe of apocalyptic dimensions."

-snip-

And experts say Germany's phase-out provides a good map that countries such as the United States, which use a similar amount of nuclear power, could follow. The German model would not work, however, in countries like France, which relies on nuclear energy for more than 70 percent of its power and has no intention of shifting.

"If we had the winds of Texas or the sun of California, the task here would be even easier," said Felix Matthes of Germany's renowned Institute for Applied Ecology. "Given the great potential in the U.S., it would be feasible there in the long run too, even though it would necessitate huge infrastructure investments."

-snip-

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/03/23/financial/f051152D35.DTL

[drm604]

1. K&R

:kick:

[tavalon]

2. Well, gee, at least someone is paying attention.

[CountAllVotes]

3. the "master race" hath spoken!

Fine minds the German's have (or so said my late father who was 1/2 German). Seems he was right. They have "horse sense" and know that nukes kill you!

:kick:

[sasha031]

4. that's great news, good for them

:kick:

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. Take a look at France and you may want to revise that statement

[AndyTiedye]

12. Everyone Was Saying That About the Japanese and their Nukes Until a Couple of Weeks Ago

Japan was frequently cited as a model for how nukes were sooooooo safe
that they could even be run in highly-populated earthquake zones.

:nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke: :hide: :grr:

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. Perhaps my post was not clear enough

...It really does not greatly matter what Germany does with France being a nuke happy as it is.

[closeupready]

20. If that were true, then the State of Nevada would not need to be consulted about Yucca Mtn.

nt

[ProgressiveProfessor]

21. Not sure how that applies

France gets nearly 80% of its power from nuclear plants, and has several on its borders with other nations, including Germany. The point being that while it is well and good that Germany steps back from nuclear power, until the rest of the EU does, it is still at risk.

[closeupready]

22. Sorry, I misunderstood you - I actually agree with you.

:hi:

[AndyTiedye]

24. And the Prevailing Winds Blow from France into Germany

Germany can only hope that the French build their nukes better than they build their rockets and their cars.

[Uncle Joe]

35. Perhaps the Germans are approaching it from the Serenity Prayer/Bartley point of view.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_prayer

O God and Heavenly Father,
Grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed; courage to change that which can be changed, and wisdom to know the one from the other, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

(snip)

For every ailment under the sun
There is a remedy, or there is none;
If there be one, try to find it;
If there be none, never mind it.

Although I wouldn't go so far as to say that's it's impossible that France won't eventually change its' point of view re: the use of nuclear energy.

[plumbob]

5. Excellent! Now let's do the same!

Please?

[closeupready]

6. Good move.

K&R

[hunter]

8. It's a major victory for the Russians.

I'll bet they are partying at Gazprom.

[NickB79]

25. Shame your observation seems to be lost on most in this thread. NT

[truth2power]

9. As should the US...

Neither safe, cheap nor renewable.

[DeSwiss]

10. Well, that's one. Next?

- Such a lovely day!!!

K&R

[callous taoboy]

11. We'll not be getting rid of coal in Texas, thanks to the coal lobby.

That is a one fundamental difference between how the Germans and the U.S. do things.

[Enthusiast]

14. The fundamental difference is

that corporations rule this nation while in European countries their influence is kept in check. That is why Citizens United is such an egregious affront to our democracy.

[truthisfreedom]

16. At least coal isn't radioactive. We can work on reducing our need for it without being in fear of

coal going into meltdown. Yes, I'm well aware how much it pollutes and how negative its impact is on human life. But it doesn't create Chernobyls or Fukushimas.

[callous taoboy]

18. That wasn't my point.

The Germans are saying that we could be doing renewables on a way bigger scale, especially wind power in Texas, with some big investments up front. Texas will not have the need to expand wind power if we are generating power with coal at current rates. We would not be generating power with coal as much in the future if the coal lobby wasn't as powerful as it is in Texas. That was my point. That coal pollutes Texas is evidenced by, among other things, the soaring rates of asthma.

Industry owns us. That was the point.

[idlisambar]

23. Coal is radioactive

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste

[Yo_Mama]

33. Coal is quite radioactive

On average, you get far more increased radiation from living near a coal plant than you do from living near a nuclear plant.

The tailings are radioactive, some of the coal miners get pretty high dosages from high radon levels, etc. Newer plants generally have lower net emissions due to fly ash control, but coal IS radioactive.

Here's an article. Science, it is a wonderful thing, and you do not get it from TV:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste

[WatsonT]

36. We both get about the same amount of our energy from coal

22.5% of Germany's energy use comes from coal compared to about 23% here.

[JDPriestly]

15. OK, Obama, the ball is in your court now.

When are you going to start a Fukushima tour, shut down nuclear plants and start investing in alternative energy big-time?

If you fail to do this, the legacy of millions of dead Americans will be on your hands.

We have been warned. First, there was the BP spill, harbinger of many future spills I am sure. Spills that are inevitable as we drill in more and more hazardous areas.

Now the Fukushima melt-down. Yes, I said melt-down. Because that is what it is.

Life as we know it can only withstand so much exposure to radiation. The Fukushima incident may hasten only a few hundred thousands deaths, may render only a few hundred acres of land uninhabitable for hundreds if not thousands of years. But there will be another Fukushima, and still another -- every 20-25 years. And because of the afterlife of the radiation, each disaster will add to the overall level of poisonous, life-killing radiation on the planet.

This is Obama's War: The war against the destruction of the world by greedy polluters. That is the war we really should be fighting. Forget Libya. Forget Afghanistan. Let's fight for a safe environment. Closing our nuclear plants is the first step.

[CJvR]

17. More CO2

So coal and gas is on the move again. Or are the French nuclear reactors to compensate?

Merkel seems to have blown a fuse or perhaps they did some polling. Nothing like bombastic proclamations when you intend to do nothing.

[FLPanhandle]

19. France is right next door with about 70+ nuke plants

The French aren't ever going to give up their nukes, plus they sell that nuke power to Germany.

[harun]

26. They may not have California Sun or Texas Wind but they also don't

have Republican's. Which of course is the United States biggest hurdle to Progress.

[Courtesy Flush]

27. SMH We DO have the winds of Texas and the sun of California. Nt

[progressoid]

28. Why bother. They just buy it from the French.

[pitohui]

29. very interesting, sounds like germany will lead the way

i hope they can make it happen, the sooner, the better...

[BrookBrew]

30. "Consumers must be prepared for significantly higher electricity prices...

Not happening. They have no way to generate base load. They will just buy from france.

[polichick]

31. Germany also protects its workers, jobs and intellectual patents...

They are leaving us in the dust on many fronts.

[Yo_Mama]

32. Yeah, they're building coal plants

A jackload of them.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,472786,00.html

However they are also trying to figure out how to cut emissions:
http://powerplantccs.com/blog/tag/coal-power-plants-in-germany

Germany has a lot of coal mining. It has gotten relatively little usable power from its very large wind investment, and unfortunately solar power and Germany are not a great match. But coal, it has.

[WatsonT]

37. Yep

I wonder how the folks who are cheering this will respond when the end result is a net increase in coal usage which is far more polluting than nuclear (even releasing more radioactive material than nuclear plants)

[Zorra]

34. Nice to see simple common sense prevail for once. nt

[avaistheone1]

38. k&r