Green Party becomes Germany’s second largest party
Times 13th Oct 2018 The Green Party has emerged as Germany’s second largest party for the first time, in a poll released days before a crucial state election in Bavaria. The party hopes to become the dominant force of the centre left, dislodging
the ailing Social Democrats (SPD), who have fallen back to fourth place.
In tomorrow’s election in Bavaria, once a solid bastion of conservatism, the Green Party is forecast to win up to a fifth of the vote and break the stranglehold of the Christian Social Union (CSU), which has held an almost uninterrupted absolute majority in the state since the Fifties.
The resurgent Greens fought an upbeat and social media-savvy campaign fronted by Katharina Schulze, a telegenic 33-year-old nicknamed the Mother of Dragons after a stunt in which she dressed up as a character fro m the
television series Game of Thrones.
Nationwide opinion polls suggest that the traditional centre ground of German politics is disintegrating. Angela
Merkel’s Christian Democrats and their CSU allies have sunk to a historic low of 26 per cent. The SPD, their junior coalition partner, has collapsed to 15 per cent.
The Greens are vying for second place with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) as voters become increasingly disenchanted with the grand coalition that has ruled the country for the past five years.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/3a6971bc-ce1b-11e8-998e-a6e3c63abd14
Genetic changes in children of soldiers who were exposed to ionising radiation
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Typical mutations in children of radar soldiers https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181005111447.htm, October 5, 2018
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Tritium was identified as the primary culprit in damaging fetuses and mothers’ rapidly diving cells.
 Paul Richards Nuclear Fuel Cycle Watch South Australia, 6 Oct 18, This information was tabled in December 2007; as these were the findings of the German KiKK Study, ‘‘Epidemiologische Studie zu Kinderkrebs in der Umgebung von Kernkraftwerken’’ ‘‘Epidemiological Study of Childhood Cancer in the Vicinity of Nuclear Power Stations”^ and then subsequently was made public this decade. To date, no studies with NRC oversight have attempted to replicate the same methodology used in the 2007 KiKK Study. Nonetheless, there have been plenty of opinion pieces in response to the study, pontificating why these results exist, how they are wrong, or even claiming the results are inconclusive. Which interestingly, are written by those affiliated with vested interest groups in the nuclear industry. Where just claiming multiple epidemiology studies prior to this demonstrate contrary data. Unfortunately, this carries little, if any scientific weight. Furthermore, the effect measured, quantified and subsequently published in Germany has never been discredited by peer review on the basis of replicating the study methods anywhere. The outcome is the German KiKK Study^ stands alone unchallenged as a new benchmark verifying rapidly dividing cells in the womb and in mothers are actually affected detrimentally by tritium created in nuclear reactors. Creating leukaemia and birth defects in unborn babies. Which in turn, is one of the central reasons for the phase-out of nuclear reactors in Germany, as most readers here are well aware many other nations have taken the lead on. German : http://www.kinderkrebsregister.de/…/pID8_20110808_DE.pdf https://www.bfs.de/…/ergebnisse/kikk/kikk-studie.html https://www.facebook.com/groups/1021186047913052/ |
French and German anti nuclear campaigners block uranium transport
Reporterre 1st Sept 2018 [Machine Translation] Since the morning of Saturday, September 1, several anti-nuclear Franco-German militants block a uranium transport.
They climbed a bridge 140 m high near Koblenz, Germany, blocking the railway on the Moselle, informs us the group Contratom Deutschland. The blocked train carries ” Yellow Cake ” from Namibia ; it left Hamburg on Thursday for the Orano uranium conversion plant in Narbonne Malvesi, in the south of France.
In Narbonne, uranium is transformed into UF4 and then used, after several transformations and enrichment, in nuclear power plants around the world. According to Orano, the Narbonne plant processes 25% of the world’s uranium.
“If we want to get out of the nuclear industry, ” says Cécile, a French climber living in Germany who takes part in the action, ” we must stop these transports and prevent them from reaching the Orano factory in
Narbonne Malvési, the gateway to European nuclear energy.
Germany, a net exporter of electricity, unlike political discourse, does not come out quite nuclear. The transports supplying the nuclear facilities continue and the Framatome Nuclear Fuel Plant in Lingen (Lower Saxony) and Urenco’s uranium enrichment plant in Gronau (North Westphalia) continue to operate. That’s why we want to stop nuclear transport. ”
https://reporterre.net/Un-train-d-uranium-a-destination-de-Narbonne-bloque-en-Allemagne
New documentary claims that Hitler had nuclear weapons ambitions, only thwarted by an accident
NUCLEAR NAZI How Adolf Hitler’s plan to build an atomic bomb and destroy London was only thwarted when ferry carrying key ingredients sunk https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7150860/how-adolf-hitler-atomic-bomb-london-only-thwarted-by-ferry-ride/
The discovery shines light on Hitler’s ambitions to become a nuclear power and nuke Britain,By Harvey Solomon-Brady 1st September 2018
German nuclear waste and Geoscience authorities in selection process for nuclear waste dump
cooperate with the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources
(BGR) on the selection process for a national deep geologic repository
site, BGE said. According to a statement, BGE and BGR, which provides
scientific advice to the government, will also cooperate on the management
of existing waste repositories, including the Asse, Konrad and Morsleben
sites. The agreement will remain valid until the final repository site
selection process is complete, BGE said.
out R&D on behalf of BGE, the statement said. The Gorleben salt mine in
Lower Saxony, northern Germany, has been under investigation as a potential
final repository site.
introduced in 2000 by a former Social Democrat and Green Party
administration, but ended in 2010 and exploration at the site was
restarted. However, work was discontinued again at the end of 2012 to allow
for a political compromise on site selection and then ended in July 2013.
from any new site selection process. BGE was set up in 2016 and is
responsible for finding possible radioactive waste disposal sites in
addition to the existing interim facility at Gorleben.
https://www.nucnet.org/all-the-news/2018/08/28/germany-s-radwaste-disposal-company-to-cooperate-with-federal-institute-on-repository-selection
Protestors break into US air base housing nuclear weapons
Intruders cut fence and storm US air base housing nuclear weapons https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/718383/us-military-air-base-nuclear-missiles-protestors-buechel-germany-air-base-peace-bundeswehr
A US military base has been stormed by intruders who cut through a fence over allegations nuclear weapons are housed on the site.
Peace activists infiltrated the Buechel Air Base in Germany by cutting through the fence before confronted by servicemen.
The group now face criminal charges for illegal entry, property damage and interference with air traffic.
Seven people managed to cut through the perimeter at the US air base in to protest against nuclear weapons.
Germany military police said the activists claimed nuclear weapons are stored at the site.
Activists were stopped by the servicemen patroling the base after entering the security zone and then handed over to the police.
Anti-nuclear protestors had earlier in the day staged an impromptu protest outside the base’s gates.
Police had to be called to break-up the demonstration.
Protest actions have been ramping up over the past weeks – with protestors inflitrating the site last wek and putting up posters.
Germany’s military has been criticised over the incursions and has pledged to ramp up security – including more cameras.
Germany is one of four countries in Europe to host American nukes on their soil under lock and key – just in case of a nuclear exchange.
It is understood to have 20 US nuclear weapons stored which can be bolted to Tornado jets.
Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy also house Washington’s nukes – with around 20, 22 and 90.
US forces have had a presence in Germany since the end of World War 2 as part of their ongoing commitment to NATO.
Germany’s biggest utility E.ON to merge with its biggest competitor RWE
Energy Post 26th June 2018 , It came as a great surprise to me some weeks back that Germany’s biggest
utility E.ON reached an “agreement in principle” with its biggest
competitor RWE to acquire its grid and retail business Innogy via a
wide-ranging “exchange of assets,” including RWE taking over the
renewables and other power generation businesses of E.ON.
The result, if the various competition authorities and regulators allow the deal to take
place, will be the biggest European grid company and energy retailer in the
form of E.ON, with RWE becoming the second biggest power generator in
Europe and third biggest owner of renewable assets. In addition, as part of
the deal, RWE will keep a minority stake in E.ON which ties the companies
together.
http://energypost.eu/trying-to-make-sense-of-the-rwe-eon-utility-deal/
Germany’s successful development towards nuclear fusion
achieved a world record for plasma production, according to its creators.
Researchers were able to keep the device, technically known as Wendelstein
7-X, running for longer and at higher energy, than ever before. Its
performance is the best recorded for a stellarator type reactor and brings
the goal of producing limitless energy a step closer to reality,
researchers say. The new success was thanks to modifications made to the
walls of the reactor, which increase the temperature and efficiency of the
reaction.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5886603/Germanys-star-jar-fusion-reactor-comes-step-closer-producing-LIMITLESS-energy.html
Germany is ready to support Iran in restoring its economy as long as Iran adheres to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
Germany to assist Iran in restoring economy while Tehran adheres to JCPOA https://en.mehrnews.com/news/134429/Germany-to-assist-Iran-in-restoring-economy-while-Tehran-adheresTEHRAN, May 29 (MNA) – Germany is ready to support Iran in restoring its economy and also, to continue bilateral trades, as long as Iran adheres to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
“We will continue to make efforts to fulfill Iran’s hopes for economic recovery and good trade relations as long as Iran is ready and able to prove that it adheres to its obligations under the nuclear deal,” Maas said at the Global Solutions Summit held in Berlin, sputnik reported on Tuesday.
In a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Maas has mentioned that US and Germany are pursuing “two entirely separate paths” regarding Iran’s issue.
US president Donald Trump withdraw from JCPOA on May 8 and reintroduced sanctions against Iran. This is while other signatory states of the deal including Russia, China and European countries don’t support US decision and have repeatedly highlighted their commitment to the agreement and guarding Iran’s interests.
German government to compensate utilities over the phaseout of nuclear power
Germany To Compensate RWE & Vattenfall Over Nuclear Phase-Out, Clean Technica, 25 May 18 The German Government has passed a bill that gives the country the legal right to proceed with its phase-out of nuclear power but will open the door to companies like Vattenfall and RWE to receive compensation for their investment into nuclear power plants.
Following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, Germany made the unprecedented decision to close down all its nuclear power plants — the oldest eight power plants were closed immediately, while the remaining nine are scheduled to be turned off by 2022.
“A decision has been taken to shut down eight plants before the end of this year and they definitely won’t be reactivated. And the remaining nine will be shut down by the end of the decade,” Juergen Becker, deputy environment minister at the time, told Reuters. “Japan has shown that even if there is a minuscule occurrence, the residual risk is too high to justify the continuation of nuclear power (…) It is better to go for other energy services in a civilized country.”
In response, German utility RWE and Swedish power company Vattenfall sued the German government, arguing that they were due financial compensation for investing in a technology that, at the time, the German government was supporting, and that in suddenly reversing direction, the companies would suffer significant financial losses.
In December of 2016, the German Federal Constitutional Court confirmed that the government’s decision to phase-out nuclear power was “essentially constitutional.” This week, the German Federal Government approved a bill which implemented the findings of the Court, giving the country the right to proceed with its phase-out but also allowing utilities to seek “adequate financial compensation for so-called frustrated investments they made in nuclear power plants between 28 October 2010 and 16 March 2011.”
“The bill passed today ensures that the accelerated phasing out of nuclear power plants, which was initiated in 2011, will be continued consistently and in accordance with the provisions of the Basic Law,” said Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze. “Each nuclear power plant will retain its current statutory cut-off date by 31 December 2022 at the latest of nuclear energy in Germany.” …….. https://cleantechnica.com/2018/05/25/germany-to-compensate-rwe-vattenfall-over-nuclear-phase-out/
Germany’d record refutes the myth that “baseload power is essential”
Energy Post 12th March 2018, The experience of the German Energiewende shows that increasing amounts ofrenewable energy on the power system, while at the same time reducing
inflexible baseload generation, does not harm reliability write Michael
Hogan, Camille Kadoch, Carl Linvill and Megan O’Reilly of the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP).
American policymakers who are still skeptical can look across the Atlantic, to Germany, for a concrete example of a successful transition away from traditional baseload, the authors note.
Numerous studies sponsored by utilities, system operators, the national
labs, and others show that a large share of variable renewable energy
production can be integrated while keeping the lights on, without any
valuable role for traditional baseload.
No study, not even by the US Department of Energy, which examined this issue in an August 2017 Staff Report on Electricity Markets and Reliability, has found evidence that baseload generation is required for reliability. Most studies have found that reliability and least cost are best served by reducing the share of inflexible baseload generation.
Germany is meeting nearly a fifth of its electricity requirements with VREs while retiring inflexible thermal generation, the nation has not experienced reliability problems on either the distribution or bulk electric system. If anything, government data show that the reliability of the German system has increased. http://energypost.eu/how-german-energiewendes-renewables-integration-points-the-way/
Radioactive leak in German nuc lear reactor
Suddeutsche Zeitung 29th Dec 2017, [Machine Translation] In the nuclear power plant Neckarwestheim a leak hasbeen discovered during a tour in Block II in the control area. This was
announced by the Ministry of the Environment on Friday in Stuttgart. As a
result of the leak on a pipeline behind a circulation pump discovered on 22
December, about 100 liters of radioactive concentrate had leaked into the
control area of the reactor auxiliary building. However, this has no or
only a very low safety significance, said the Ministry. The operator had
shut off the pump. The affected area had been decontaminated, people were
not harmed. The cause will be further investigated. The system will be out
of service until the repair is complete.
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/news/wirtschaft/atomkraft—stuttgart-leck-in-rohrleitung-bei-atomkraftwerk-neckarwestheim-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-171229-99-447002
In Germany, electricity prices dipping below zero
New York Times 25th Dec 2017, Germany has spent $200 billion over the past two decades to promote cleaner
sources of electricity. That enormous investment is now having an unexpected impact — consumers are now actually paid to use power on occasion, as was the case over the weekend.
Power prices plunged below zero for much of Sunday and the early hours of Christmas Day on the EPEX Spot, a
large European power trading exchange, the result of low demand, unseasonably warm weather and strong breezes that provided an abundance of wind power on the grid.
Such “negative prices” are not the norm in Germany, but they are far from rare, thanks to the country’s effort to
encourage investment in greener forms of power generation. Prices for electricity in Germany have dipped below zero — meaning customers are being paid to consume power — more than 100 times this year alone, according to EPEX Spot.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/25/business/energy-environment/germany-electricity-negative-prices.html
Remove all nuclear warheads stationed in Germany – call from Germany’s Green Party
Greens ‘want last nuclear weapons withdrawn’ http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/greens-want-last-nuclear-weapons-withdrawn-122536 16 Nov 17 Germany’s Greens want the next coalition government to push for the removal of all nuclear warheads stationed in Germany, a document seen by Reuters showed on Nov. 15.
The Greens are holding exploratory discussions with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) with the goal of forming a three-way governing alliance after an election in September. The discussion paper on defense and foreign policy did not mention the United States, which is believed to have 20 nuclear warheads at a military base in Buechel in western Germany, according to unofficial estimates.
The Greens’ demands were highlighted in the document to make clear that their position was shared by neither Merkel’s conservative bloc nor the FDP.
Merkel is trying to secure a fourth term through an unlikely coalition with the Greens and FDP after her conservative bloc lost support to the far-right in the election. In 2011, a Merkel-led government announced plans to shut all nuclear reactors by 2022 after the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
“Within NATO, we want to ensure that the remaining nuclear weapons in Germany are withdrawn and we want to suspend the modernization program,” read the section stating the Greens’ position.
The three parties agreed however they would launch a diplomatic offensive pushing for nuclear disarmament. Former U.S. President Barack Obama had announced plans to modernize nuclear bombs, delivery systems and laboratories. His successor, Donald Trump, has said he wants to strengthen and expand his country’s nuclear capability.
1.This Month
of the week
Gender and Radiation Impact Project
Tri-Valley CAREs – Communities Against a Radioactive Environment
3 Reasons Why Nuclear Energy Is Terrible! 2/3
Pros and cons of public opinion polls – Jason Robert Jaffe
What About the Ozone Hole | Global Weirding
For First Time, Majority in U.S. Oppose Nuclear Energy, Gallup, BY REBECCA RIFFKIN , March 18, 2016,
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- 54% of Americans oppose nuclear energy, 44% in favor
- First time in Gallup’s trend that majority oppose nuclear energy
- Both major parties less likely to favor nuclear energy than in 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. — For the first time since Gallup first asked the question in 1994, a majority of Americans say they oppose nuclear energy. The 54% opposing it is up significantly from 43% a year ago, while the 44% who favor using nuclear energy is down from 51%.
Gallup asks Americans as part of its annual Environment poll if they favor or oppose the use of nuclear energy as one way to provide electricity. Each year from 2004 to 2015, a majority of Americans said they favored the use of nuclear energy, including a high of 62% in 2010.
In 2011, Gallup conducted its annual Environment poll a few days before the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan, and at that time, 57% of Americans were in favor of nuclear energy. The next time the question was asked in 2012, a similar majority still favored the use of nuclear energy.
And although there have not been any major nuclear incidents since Fukushima in 2011, a majority of U.S. adults now oppose nuclear energy. This suggests that energy prices and the perceived abundance of energy sources are the most relevant factors in attitudes toward nuclear power, rather than safety concerns prompted by nuclear incidents.
Lower gasoline prices over the past year are likely driving greater opposition toward the use of nuclear power. As Americans have paid less at the pump, their level of worry about the nation’s energy situation has dropped to 15-year-low levels. This appears to have resulted in more Americans prioritizing environmental protection and fewer backing nuclear power as an alternative energy source.
Democrats and Republicans Less Likely to Favor Nuclear Energy
Republicans continue to be more likely than Democrats and independents to be in favor of nuclear energy. Still, support for the use of nuclear energy among Republicans and Democrats has declined in comparison to 2015. A slight majority of Republicans, 53%, are in favor of nuclear energy, down significantly from 68% last year. One in three Democrats, 34%, favor it, down from 42% in 2015. Independents’ support is essentially unchanged from last year, but is down from the high Gallup found in 2010……..
Survey Methods
Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted March 2-6, 2016, with a random sample of 1,019 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.
Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 60% cellphone respondents and 40% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. https://news.gallup.com/poll/190064/first-time-majority-oppose-nuclear-energy.aspx
EVENTS
November-December 2018 International Uranium Film Festival – U.S. Southwest tour
November 29th and 30th and December 1st, Navajo Nation Museum, Hwy 264 & Post Office Loop, Window Rock, Navajo Nation, AZ
December 2nd, Flagstaff, AZ
December 6th, Guild Cinema, 3405 Central Ave, Albuquerque, NM
December 7th, Grants, NM
December 9th, Jean Cocteau Cinema, 418 Montezuma Ave, Santa Fe, NM
PETITIONS
Tell Congress: Stop Trump from ordering a nuclear first strike without a Congressional declaration of war.
PREVENT UNNECESSARY RADIOACTIVE RISKS ACROSS THE USA NATION
Protect Idaho’s water. Stop nuclear waste.
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