15 years later -work still continuing on getting rid of nuclear reactor
Visitors allowed into the decontamination workshop at Lubmin must wear radioactivity detectors and change into special protective clothing.
Working from inside containers, equipped with portholes, employees use high-pressure water, abrasive dust jets and acid baths to decontaminate the rooms one at a time.
“Don’t think radioactivity just disappears. It stays there as ground dust which has to be disposed of,” says Uwe Kopp, in charge of one of the workshops…..
Contaminated material from the plant is held in dozen of containers and barrels, awaiting a final government decision on a site for long-term storage.
Renewable energy development – the rational German example
Oh, the beauty of a system that is easy to understand and predictable……
Germany Shows How Renewable Energy Should Be Done, Daily Finance, ByTravis Hoium, The Motley Fool 08/01/11 Germany is doubling its efforts to be a renewable-energy power over the next 50 years, and it’s expanding beyond just solar power. After the country put thekibosh on exploding solar installationsby cutting feed-in tariffs (FIT), it has increased the FIT for biomass, geothermal, and offshore wind while simplifying solar rates. The wet blanketcurrently covering the German nuclear industrymeant the country needed to find a way to push renewable-energy installations to meet national renewable-energy goals before plants began closing. Continue reading
Germany’s strategic approach to renewable energy and energy efficiency
This package of proposals forms the basis for Germany’s confidence that it can phase out one source of energy and phase in renewable energy and energy efficiency. The combination of a mix of policies (emissions trading, standards, regulations, incentives) with planning and investments in the longer-term infrastructure is the pathway Germany has chosen.
How Germany plans to succeed in a nuclear free, low-carbon economy, | guardian.co.uk, 29 July 11, Germany plans to meet ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets while it phases out nuclear power Germany has taken some fundamental energy decisions in recent months, ones that are interesting for other countries to study and learn from. The most “famous” decision recently has been to phase out nuclear power in the next ten years. This move builds on years of debate and a societal decision after Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident to move away from nuclear energy.
There has been much less focus, however, on the phasing in of other sources of energy. Nor has there been much focus on how Germany can remain the economic powerhouse of Europe, and the world’s second largest exporting country, while removing a significant source of energy from its grid.
This phase-in story is vital to understand, especially taking into account that Germany plans to meet ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets while it phases out nuclear power. So, how will this work?……. Continue reading
Germany’s electric bicycles, powered by renewable energy
Germans get on their e-bikes – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation),29 July 11, Electric bikes may be the bicycle industry’s next big thing if German users are anything to go by.Demand in Germany, one of Europe’s largest markets for electronic bicycles along with the Netherlands, tripled in 2010 and is set to grow by 50 per cent to 300,000 this year, according to bicycle industry association ZIV.This attitude reflects a broader trend in Germany, where the Greens party is gaining popularity, for people to buy a range of “green”, environmentally friendly products…..Germans get on their e-bikes – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Court action in Germany aimed at removing USA nuclear warheads
Activist takes Germany to court over nuclear warheads , Gabriel Borrud, Deutsche Welle, 15 July 11, Retired pharmacist versus Germany: a Cologne court has begun hearing the case of an activist intent on having Germany remove US nuclear warheads being stored at a military base located in western Germany. Continue reading
The end of nuclear, an economic boon for Germany
a shift to a renewable energy powered economy comes with costs. However, this price tag is modest in comparison to the heavy burden that nuclear brings. Over the last 40 years, the German nuclear industry has been pampered with more than 200 billion Euros in subsidies. In comparison, renewable energy technologies have been incentivized by about 4.8 billion Euros in 2010. By replacing fossil fuel imports and avoiding health costs, renewables already pay off today.
Auf Wiedersehen! Germany’s goodbye to nuclear power will accelerate the transition towards a low-carbon economy, THE HILL, By Arne Jungjohann: Director for the Environment Program of the Heinrich Böll Foundation-07/08/11 ……….A decade ago, Germany started transitioning towards a low carbon economy. The share of renewable power has tripled. Wind farms, solar modules, biogas, and hydro power provide 18 percent of Germany’s power supply. Today, renewables are a reliable and indispensable pillar of Germany’s power supply that keep trains running and factories humming. The sector is fast growing and provides 370,000 good-paying jobs – much more than the 22,000 jobs in Germany’s lignite coal industry. Many of these jobs are within traditional industries, such as steel workers, farmers and the ceramic and glass industries. Continue reading
German Parliament seals nuclear exit plan
The nuclear exit scheme cleared its final hurdle in the Bundesrat upper house, which represents the 16 regional states, after the legislation passed the Bundestag lower house with an overwhelming majority last week.
Germany’s seven oldest reactors were already switched off after Japan’s massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, causing reactors to overheat and radiation to leak.
A further reactor has been shut for years because of technical problems.
The nine reactors currently on line are due to be turned off between 2015 and 2022, an even faster pace than envisaged when Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the decision in May.
Polls indicate a large majority of Germans oppose nuclear power due to fears of a reactor catastrophe and unresolved issues on the long-term storage of highly radioactive atomic waste……http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gnJH-sZ9D1lD39l-ekmBrnx2xuyg?docId=CNG.789d47896547d432d46c547221e2b880.461
In anti-nuclear Germany, Conservatives may partner with the Greens
Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said Monday the nuclear exit could end decades of ugly fighting in society. It may also render Mrs. Merkel a new coalition partner — the Greens.
Will Merkel’s Nuclear Exit Lead to Coalition With the Greens? WSJ, June 7, 2011 Germany’s bold strategy for an exit from atomic power by 2022 was only announced by the cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday. Yet it has already been attacked on multiple fronts, varying from the International Energy Agency and environmental organizations to “friendly fire” from within Mrs. Merkel’s center-right government coalition. What most critics are missing, however, is that Mrs. Merkel’s alternative to a rapid exit from nuclear energy would be an almost certain loss of power in general elections two years from now at the hands of an increasingly antinuclear electorate…. Continue reading
Power transmission companies benefit from Germany’s nuclear shutdown
Dealtalk: German nuclear exit a boon for Siemens, ABB, By Marilyn Gerlach, FRANKFURT | Jun 10, 2011 (Reuters) – Germany’s nuclear exit and power shortages in China may help boost demand for switchgears and transformers, benefiting European power transmission suppliers such as Siemens and ABB.
Germany’s parliament began debating its new energy bill on Thursday, clearing the way for the shutdown of 17 nuclear reactors from 2015. Analysts say the nuclear capacity gap could be replaced mostly by renewables, which are volatile sources of energy and so trigger a need to invest in grid transmission infrastructure. ….http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/10/us-germany-siemens-idUSTRE7592YQ20110610
Merkel calls on lawmakers to back moves to end nuclear energy
Merkel Asks Lawmakers to Back Shift From Nuclear NYT, By JUDY DEMPSEY June 9, 2011 BERLIN — Calling Germany’s plan to phase outnuclear energy by 2022 a “Herculean task,” Chancellor Angela Merkel told lawmakers on Thursday that the country was poised to lead the world in renouncing nuclear energy. Continue reading
German govt plan to accelerate closure of nuclear power plants
In brief, the proposed strategy is to close Germany’s seventeen nuclear power plants (with a total net capacity of 20.5 GW) in tandem with faster development of renewable sources of energy, including biomass solar and wind, and constructing 5 GW of new natural gas combined cycle power generation……
German report suggests nuclear power may end by 2017 Energy and Environmental Management 8 June 11 Last week, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Cabinet agreed a plan committing the country to phasing out all nuclear power by the end of 2022. This new draft report, published by an agency of the German Environment Ministry, led by the conservative Norbert Röttgen, explains how this might be achieved in practice. What is surprising is that the Ministry suggest it might be possible to end nuclear power by 2017 – a full five years earlier than expected. Continue reading
Germany’splan for clear,gradual,exit from nuclear power
Merkel:German Nuclear Exit Gradual; 2022 Irreversible End-date- WSJ.com,3 June 11By Bernd Radowitz, BERLIN (Dow Jones)–-Germany’s nuclear exit will take place in several steps, with the end of 2022 as an irreversible final date for the switch-off of the last nuclear power station, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday after meeting the premiers of German states. Continue reading
Many thousands of anti nuclear protestors across Germany
25,000 attend anti-nuclear demo in Berlin, Tehran Times, 30 May 11, Tens of thousands of people have been demonstrating in 21 cities in Germany against the government’s energy policy, calling for an end to nuclear power.Around 25,000 anti-nuclear activists protested in the German capital of Berlin on Saturday. Similar rallies were also held in Dresden, Munich, Hamburg, Gottingen and other cities, where the protesters called for a swift exit from nuclear power, a Press TV correspondent reported.“We want to clear an indefinite decision that as many nuclear reactors as possible will close and that for others at least we get a precise date for the shutdown,” Thorben Becker of Friends of The Earth told Press TV……
A study by the German environment ministry has suggested that a phase-out by 2017 would be possible without causing blackouts. …..
Experts say it is crucial that Merkel and her CDU present a plan and a date for the nuclear phase-out as soon as possible, as the protests have sent a clear signal to the government that the majority of Germans oppose nuclear energy. …
tehran times : 25,000 attend anti-nuclear demo in Berlin
Germany’s 7 oldest nuclear plants will not be re-starting
Oldest German nuclear plants to stay closed, FT.com By Gerrit Wiesmann in Berlin May 27 2011 The seven oldest of Germany’s 17 nuclear power stations will not go back into operation when a three-month safety review finishes in June, the country’s federal and state environment ministers agreed on Friday. Continue reading
Germany wants global nuclear safety tests
Germany also wanted to become a model to the rest of the world on climate protection and producing green power.
“We want to reach the era of renewable energy more quickly,” she told the Bundestag.
Merkel calls for global nuclear reactor tests The Local, 26 May 11 Chancellor Angela Merkel called on the rest of the world to carry out atomic reactor “stress tests” and demanded the G8 take a leading role in nuclear security on Thursday, ahead of a meeting of the group of leading nations.
As Merkel prepares for a Group of Eight summit in Deauville, France, on Thursday and Friday, she told the German parliament that such nuclear plant checks needed to extend beyond Germany and the European Union. Continue reading
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