Germany « nuclear-news

Germany phasing out coal, but will not import nuclear power as replacement

Do not want imported nuclear power to make up for coal phase-out: German minister, http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/do-not-want-imported-nuclear-power-to-make-up-for-coal-phase-out-german-minister-140816Germany‘s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier on Jan. 28 said that he did not want Germanyto compensate for a planned phase out of coal-fired power by 2038 by importing nuclearpower from neighboring countries.

“We want energy security to be provided at all times,” the minister told broadcaster ZDF, but added: “We do not want to import cheap nuclear power from other countries.”

Germany‘s coal commission on Jan. 26 said the country should shut down all of its coal-fired power plants by 2038 at the latest, proposing at least 40 billion euros ($45.7 billion) in aid to regions affected by the phase-out.

January 29, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, Germany | Leave a comment

Germany urges Russia to destroy missile to save nuclear treaty

http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/germany-urges-russia-to-destroy-missile-to-save-nuclear-treaty/article/541215 German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Friday called on Russia to destroy a controversial missile system Washington says breaches a key arms control treaty.

“We believe Russia can save this treaty,” Maas said after talks with Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov, referring to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF).

“It affects our security interests in a fundamental way.”

Tensions have raged between Russia and the United States over the fate of the INF agreement signed in 1987 by then US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

US President Donald Trump has promised to walk away from the agreement and Russian leader Vladimir Putin threatened a new arms race, saying Europe would be its main victim.

Washington says Moscow’s 9M729 missile system violates the treaty and warned it would withdraw from the agreement if Russia does not get rid of it.

Russia denies the claim, accusing the United States of violating the treaty which forbids ground-launched short- and intermediate-range missiles.

“Like other NATO members, we believe that there is a missile violating this treaty and it should be destroyed in a verifiable manner to get back to the implementation of this agreement,” Germany’s Maas told reporters.

Maas commended Moscow for trying to salvage the agreement and expressed hope that talks between Russian and US negotiators would resume in the near future.

Last month Washington gave Russia a 60-day deadline to dismantle missiles that it claims breach the INF treaty or the US would begin the six-month process of formally withdrawing from the deal.

Lavrov for his part said Washington provided no evidence that Russia’s tests of the missile violated the INF treaty.

He said Washington’s demands to destroy the missiles and have regular access to Russian sites were just “a pretext to exit the treaty.”

“During official contacts on arms control and disarmament issues back in October the United States said the decision is definitive and their announcement of the withdrawal from the INF treaty is not an invitation to dialogue. This is a quote.”

Earlier this week, talks between US and Russian officials in Geneva to salvage the deal led nowhere. Moscow said Washington did not appear to be in the mood for more talks while a US official said Russia was just paying “lip service” to transparency.

Russian officials said US representatives had confirmed Washington’s intention to begin withdrawing from the treaty from February 2.

January 19, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, politics international, Russia, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Renewables beating coal energy in Germany

Renewables have overtaken coal as Germany’s main energy source, World Economic Forum, Reuters Staff, 4 Jan 2019 Renewables overtook coal as Germany’s main source of energy for the first time last year, accounting for just over 40 percent of electricity production, research showed on Thursday.

The shift marks progress as Europe’s biggest economy aims for renewables to provide 65 percent of its energy by 2030 in a costly transition as it abandons nuclear power by 2022 and is devising plans for an orderly long-term exit from coal.

The research from the Fraunhofer organisation of applied science showed that output of solar, wind, biomass and hydroelectric generation units rose 4.3 percent last year to produce 219 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity. That was out of a total national power production of 542 TWh derived from both green and fossil fuels, of which coal burning accounted for 38 percent.

Green energy’s share of Germany’s power production has risen from 38.2 percent in 2017 and just 19.1 percent in 2010.

Bruno Burger, author of the Fraunhofer study, said it was set to stay above 40 percent this year.

“We will not fall below the 40 percent in 2019 because more renewable installations are being built and weather patterns will not change that dramatically,” he said……….https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/renewables-overtake-coal-as-germanys-main-energy-source?utm_source=Facebook%20Videos&utm_medium=Facebook%20Video

January 6, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, renewable | Leave a comment

Residential batteries ready to compete with fossil fuels and nuclear in Germany

Sonnen: Residential batteries ready to compete with fossil fuels and nuclear in Germany Energy Storage, 14 Dec 18 , Batteries in private households will be now able to perform the “same tasks as a conventional power plant”, across the whole of Germany, the CEO of Sonnen has said, following a ruling that opens up grid services markets to the company’s devices.

Sonnen last week announced that it has obtained pre-qualification to enter Germany’s Primary Control Reserve market by grid operator TenneT for its battery energy storage units installed across the country. Primary Control Reserve is a form of frequency regulation, keeping the grid to within acceptable boundaries of its optimum 50Hz operating frequency……….

If every solar home in Germany – there are around 1.5 million at present – was equipped with a SonnenBatterie, the power capacity would add up to 4.5GW, with an energy capacity of 15GWh. Such systems, connected to the virtual battery, or virtual power plant (VPP), could replace four large thermal power plants, equivalent to the entire capacity currently being used for PCR across the entire European continent.

The possibility for scaling up the model, in other words, “is one large step towards a clean and decentralised energy structure,” Ostermann said………https://www.energy-storage.news/news/sonnen-residential-batteries-ready-to-compete-with-fossil-fuels-and-nuclear

December 15, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | decentralised, energy storage, Germany | Leave a comment

Explosion and fire at German Advanced Nuclear Fuels plant

Sortir du Nucleaire 6th Dec 2018 , An explosion followed by a major fire took place on 6 December 2018 at the
Advanced Nuclear Fuels plant in Lingen (Lower Saxony). This plant, located
near the Emsland nuclear reactor in northwestern Germany, is owned by
Framatome. Nuclear fuel elements are manufactured and sent to several
countries, including France. As a spokesman for the plant later confirmed
to the media Norddeutscher Rundfunk, the fire broke out in the laboratory
of a manufacturing workshop , where the quality of the uranium is tested
before shipment. This laboratory is located in the nuclear part of the
facility. Although quickly controlled, the fire required the intervention
of 150 firefighters from the area. The staff was evacuated. Since then, the
plant has been idling.
https://www.sortirdunucleaire.org/Allemagne-Lingen-Explosion-et-incendie-dans-l-usine-Framatome-de-fabrication-de-combustible-nucleaire1

December 15, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, incidents | 1 Comment

Germany a leading solar power producer, despite its low hours of sunshine

Germany Works (accessed) 9th Dec 2018, Germany has belied its status as a country with the fewest hours of sunshine in the world to become one of the planet’s largest solar power producers.

In 2017, Germany ranked fourth globally and accounted for about 10 per cent of the global installed capacity, according to the International Energy Agency. In 2017, Germany ranked fourth globally and accounted for about 10 per cent of the global installed capacity, according to the International Energy Agency.

This has been achieved by 1.7 million small-scale solar panel operators rather than by big, centralised power producers. These operators produced 9.6 per cent of Germany’s net energy production in the first nine months of 2018, according to research institute Fraunhofer ISE. Further, solar power has become the cheapest mode of power generation in Germany, according to Fraunhofer ISE, which says that equipment and installation costs fell by 75 per cent between 2006 and 2017.
https://germanyworks.ft.com/energy/german-solar-power-is-a-sunrise-market/

December 11, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | decentralised, Germany | Leave a comment

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

October 15, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, politics | Leave a comment

Genetic changes in children of soldiers who were exposed to ionising radiation

Typical mutations in children of radar soldiers https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181005111447.htm, October 5, 2018

Source:

University of Bonn

Summary:

The offspring of radar soldiers exposed to high doses of radiation during their service experience more genetic alterations than families without radiation exposure.

The offspring of radar soldiers exposed to high doses of radiation during their service experience more genetic alterations than families without radiation exposure. This has been demonstrated in a pilot study by the research team involving Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), the Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, Radboud University Nijmegen (Netherlands) and the University Hospital Bonn, which has now been published in the journal Scientific Reports. The results of this pilot study will be reviewed in a larger scale study.

Until the 1980s, military radar systems were often inadequately shielded against spurious radiation emitted by radar amplifier tubes. Such rays can cause radiation damage to service and maintenance personnel. The persons involved have joined forces in the ‘Association for the support of persons harmed by radar beams’. In 2003, a commission of experts made recommendations on compensatory payments. Since some children of former radar soldiers suffer from physical disabilities attributed to the radiation exposure of their fathers, their offspring are now in the spotlight. Whether radiation led to genotype damage in these children is debated.

A research team from Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Radboud University Nijmegen (Netherlands) and the University Hospital Bonn have now investigated this question in a pilot study. ‘Through the latest methods of high-throughput sequencing, the complete genomes of parents and their children can now be studied within a short time. This allows us to determine the mutation rates after radiation exposure much more accurately than before’ says first author Dr. med. Manuel Holtgrewe of the Core Unit Bioinformatics (CUBI) of the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin.

Researchers studied the genomes of twelve families

The scientists studied the genomes of twelve families of radar soldiers. The entire genomes of 18 offspring and their parents were sequenced. The exact radiation exposure of the soldiers cannot be determined retroactively. Researchers estimate, however, that a ‘high dose’ of radiation emanated from the radar systems, especially because radar soldiers very frequently became ill, many from cancer. Scientists compared the mutation rates in the genomes of radar soldier families with that of 28 offspring of parents who were not exposed to radiation.

The focus was on so-called ‘multisite de novo mutations’ (MSDN), which have already been demonstrated in mice because of radiation. An MSDN is present when two or more defects in DNA strands occur adjacently to each other in a line of 20 base pairs. While in the families without radiation exposure, only every fifth offspring had an MSDN, in the radar soldier families this was two out of three offspring. Twelve MSDNs were found in the 18 offspring of radar soldiers, in one family indeed six MSDNs in three offspring. In addition, in two offspring, chromosomal alterations were also detected that had serious clinical consequences. The origin of these mutations could also be traced back to the paternal germ line and only rarely occurs by chance.

‘The results of our pilot study suggest that an accumulation of certain genotype damage by radiation can basically be demonstrated in the next generation,’ says Prof. Dr. med. Peter Krawitz from the Institute for Genomic Statistics and Bioinformatics at the University Hospital Bonn. How pronounced the accumulation of genotype damage by radiation is must be demonstrated by even larger studies, the results of which rely on a much broader database. A team involving Krawitz is currently planning such a follow-up study together with the Institute of Human Genetics of the University Hospital Bonn, the Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), who are funding it.

The researchers thank the Government Organisation in Support of Radar Victims (BzUR) and its members for supporting the current study. The investigation was facilitated by a private donation of 50,000 euros by Dr. Gisela Sperling.

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Bonn. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

Manuel Holtgrewe, Alexej Knaus, Gabriele Hildebrand, Jean-Tori Pantel, Miguel Rodriguez de los Santos, Kornelia Neveling, Jakob Goldmann, Max Schubach, Marten Jäger, Marie Coutelier, Stefan Mundlos, Dieter Beule, Karl Sperling, Peter Michael Krawitz. Multisite de novo mutations in human offspring after paternal exposure to ionizing radiation. Scientific Reports, 2018; 8 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-33066-x

October 8, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, radiation, Reference | Leave a comment

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.
____________
^ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ijc.23330

German : http://www.kinderkrebsregister.de/…/pID8_20110808_DE.pdf

https://www.bfs.de/…/ergebnisse/kikk/kikk-studie.html https://www.facebook.com/groups/1021186047913052/

October 6, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, radiation, Reference | Leave a comment

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

September 3, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

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

ADOLF Hitler’s plans to blow up London with a nuclear bomb very nearly succeeded, a new documentary has revealed.

A Nazi ship with the secret mission of transporting heavy water – an ingredient used for nuclear reactors – has been found by scientists and naval historians in Norway. The 170ft Hydro ferry, which Winston Churchill ordered to be sank in 1944, has been dragged up from the bottom of a 460-ft-deep Norwegian lake near Oslo.

Churchill was unaware of the ship’s purpose but ordered its sinking anyway, a choice that is now believed to have saved Britain’s capital city.

This quantity of heavy water would have been more than enough to catapult Germany on her way to becoming a nuclear power. Naval historian professor Eric Gove told the Daily Telegraph: “After the war, those involved in the German nuclear programme said that the loss of heavy water was absolutely decisive. It stopped their reactor programme in its tracks.”

Norway became a target of the Allies after it began producing water in 1934, above Lake Tinn at Vemork.

Fission is the radioactive decay process where an atom’s nucleus splits into smaller parts.

The scientists needed heavy water in order to control the fission process.

After Hitler invaded Norway in 1940, he ordered his troops to move straight for the nuclear plant in Vemork.

Consequently, Operation Gunnerside was launched in 1943 after Britain feared Hitler would use this substance against his enemies.

Despite blowing up the plant while the Hydro was sunk, the Norwegians did not destroy all the Germany supply of heavy water the Nazis began to move the following year by train and ferry. However, Churchill was already a move ahead.

He and his generals had already ordered their Norway counterparts to attach a bomb to the vessel.

The mission was later documented in The Heroes of Telemark.

Drain the Ocean will appear on National Geographic every week from September 6.

September 3, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, history, weapons and war | Leave a comment

German nuclear waste and Geoscience authorities in selection process for nuclear waste dump

Nucnet 28th Aug 2018 , BGE, Germany’s state-owned radioactive waste disposal company, is to
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.

Under the agreement BGR will carry
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.

A moratorium on the evaluation of Gorleben was
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.

The site is being kept open, but secured, and Gorleben will not be excluded
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

August 31, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, wastes | Leave a comment

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.

July 25, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

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/

July 2, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, ENERGY, Germany | Leave a comment

Germany’s successful development towards nuclear fusion

Daily Mail 26th June 2018 , A nuclear fusion experiment in Germany, dubbed the ‘star in a jar’, has
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

June 29, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, technology | Leave a comment

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