SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post

Skybird · 07-24-22, 03:29 PM

FOCUS:

Germany is in a self-inflicted energy crisis. The blame falls on all federal governments since the proclamation of the energy turnaround under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and his Green Party deputy Joschka Fischer. All of them have cemented Germany's structural dependence on fossil fuels. After all, the main goal of Germany's energy transition was not only to promote renewable energies, but also to phase out nuclear power.

This meant that climate-friendly nuclear energy failed as a backup for the increasingly dominant but weather-dependent renewables. No one thought about storage technologies. Coal and Russian natural gas did the job.

The Ampelkoalition (=traffic light government, due to the three colours of the parties, Skybird) didn't change that either. Gas as a backup for renewables formed the backbone of its climate strategy until the Ukraine war. That no longer works. Now Robert Habeck, who wanted to become a climate minister, is mobilizing old coal-fired power plants in his distress. But he won't let go of the nuclear phase-out. For years, nuclear fear was the Greens' most powerful mobilization tool. So close to the historic victory over German nuclear power, they don't want to admit that this path may have been wrong.

This creates self-contradictions. We don't have a power problem, the government says, but recommends that companies buy emergency generators. Every kilowatt-hour of electricity is haggled over to save gas-fired generation - but 33 billion kilowatt-hours of nuclear power that our last nuclear plants can produce per year are supposedly irrelevant.

The failure of reactors in France is bemoaned as a destabilizing factor - but the highly reliable purring German plants, 4200 megawatts of secure generating capacity, are to be shut down in the middle of winter. But the availability of this power could make the difference between stability and grid collapse.

Only a revolutionary act can help out of this danger: Away with the nuclear phase-out. "Nuclear fear - No thanks! " This act would have two advantages: Energy security and credibility. We would have more electricity in the grid - and politicians could convincingly link the climate goal with security of supply instead of playing them off against each other. After all, nuclear power has the same carbon footprint as wind power - but runs as reliably as coal.

Six German nuclear power plants are theoretically still operational because they have operating licenses, and three of them are on the grid. The first thing the federal government would have to do is sit down with the operators and take a technical inventory: How much electricity could the operating reactors, and possibly the revitalized ones, contribute? Have any interventions been made in the plants shut down in 2021 that would stand in the way of restarting them? How can we prepare plants and personnel to resume power operations? The government could commission its own expert body, the Reactor Safety Commission, which it has so far left to its own devices, to provide technical support.

At the same time, it would have to introduce a bill to amend the Atomic Energy Act in the Bundestag. This would allow the nuclear power plants to regain or extend their authorization to operate. In parallel, the power companies could already order new fuel elements. For the transition, the plants would have to make do with stretch operation and newly assembled reactor cores from existing fuel assemblies until the summer of 2023. Industry sources say that in an emergency, new fuel assemblies could be delivered in less than a year.

At the same time, the line ministries should proclaim the most important message: Evidence instead of nuclear fear! The Reactor Safety Commission certifies that our plants are not threatened by a Fukushima thanks to their robust protection against weather extremes and power outages. They are also immune to crashes of large commercial aircraft.

At the operating nuclear power plants, there have been no compromises in safety because of the phase-out date, with mandatory testing and maintenance being performed as usual. In plants shut down in 2021, these testing cycles would have to be resumed, unless they are still in operation anyway. The "periodic safety review" to be made up in some plants is a higher-level analysis procedure. It is performed during operation to gain additional insight into plant safety, but does not necessitate a plant shutdown.

The energy emergency dictates: It is now high time to initiate the lifetime extension. It should extend into the mid-2030s to give operators and workforces planning security. After all, the lack of secure and at the same time climate-friendly power plant capacity will be the dominant issue of the energy transition for years to come.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Three active and three additional powerplants that could be reactivated. German govenrment, get your stupid hea dout of your lower back. The industry told Habeck already in early April they could get new nculear fuel, and not for Russia, before end of the year. Habeck lies about it to the German public since then, claiming it could only be gotten from Russia, and would take until next spring to get any. He lies.

The whole German bailout from nuclear energy was a hilarious stupid idea from all beginning on. Not a shot just in the foot - more a shot through the head.

-----------

On a sidenote, I tried to buy more petroleum (for petroleum ovens) of cleaning grade 5 for my parents, their heating is still on gas. Grade 5, because that is so purified and cleaned that correctly burned it does not smell after an 3-5 minutes ignition phase anymore (telling by experience). The lower the grade, the nastier it smells. I cannot get any grade 5 petroleum in Germany anymore, and even internationally my suppliers that I used in the past have dried out, in Italy, Belgium - the traders there where I ordered cannisters of 20l in the past months said they have none anymore - and that the Germans have bought them all. Last autumn, getting electricty independent petroleum heaters like certain Zibro models (Japanese market leader) were easy to get, today it is an emptied market. The prices for low quality petroleum nevertheless have gone through the ceiling. Last year,. I bought grade 5 cannisters for at best just under 55 Euros. Today I would need to accept stink brew grade 4 and 3 costing twice that price.

07-24-22, 03:29 PM	#1595
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 40,652 Downloads: 9 Uploads: 0	FOCUS: Germany is in a self-inflicted energy crisis. The blame falls on all federal governments since the proclamation of the energy turnaround under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and his Green Party deputy Joschka Fischer. All of them have cemented Germany's structural dependence on fossil fuels. After all, the main goal of Germany's energy transition was not only to promote renewable energies, but also to phase out nuclear power. This meant that climate-friendly nuclear energy failed as a backup for the increasingly dominant but weather-dependent renewables. No one thought about storage technologies. Coal and Russian natural gas did the job. The Ampelkoalition (=traffic light government, due to the three colours of the parties, Skybird) didn't change that either. Gas as a backup for renewables formed the backbone of its climate strategy until the Ukraine war. That no longer works. Now Robert Habeck, who wanted to become a climate minister, is mobilizing old coal-fired power plants in his distress. But he won't let go of the nuclear phase-out. For years, nuclear fear was the Greens' most powerful mobilization tool. So close to the historic victory over German nuclear power, they don't want to admit that this path may have been wrong. This creates self-contradictions. We don't have a power problem, the government says, but recommends that companies buy emergency generators. Every kilowatt-hour of electricity is haggled over to save gas-fired generation - but 33 billion kilowatt-hours of nuclear power that our last nuclear plants can produce per year are supposedly irrelevant. The failure of reactors in France is bemoaned as a destabilizing factor - but the highly reliable purring German plants, 4200 megawatts of secure generating capacity, are to be shut down in the middle of winter. But the availability of this power could make the difference between stability and grid collapse. Only a revolutionary act can help out of this danger: Away with the nuclear phase-out. "Nuclear fear - No thanks! " This act would have two advantages: Energy security and credibility. We would have more electricity in the grid - and politicians could convincingly link the climate goal with security of supply instead of playing them off against each other. After all, nuclear power has the same carbon footprint as wind power - but runs as reliably as coal. Six German nuclear power plants are theoretically still operational because they have operating licenses, and three of them are on the grid. The first thing the federal government would have to do is sit down with the operators and take a technical inventory: How much electricity could the operating reactors, and possibly the revitalized ones, contribute? Have any interventions been made in the plants shut down in 2021 that would stand in the way of restarting them? How can we prepare plants and personnel to resume power operations? The government could commission its own expert body, the Reactor Safety Commission, which it has so far left to its own devices, to provide technical support. At the same time, it would have to introduce a bill to amend the Atomic Energy Act in the Bundestag. This would allow the nuclear power plants to regain or extend their authorization to operate. In parallel, the power companies could already order new fuel elements. For the transition, the plants would have to make do with stretch operation and newly assembled reactor cores from existing fuel assemblies until the summer of 2023. Industry sources say that in an emergency, new fuel assemblies could be delivered in less than a year. At the same time, the line ministries should proclaim the most important message: Evidence instead of nuclear fear! The Reactor Safety Commission certifies that our plants are not threatened by a Fukushima thanks to their robust protection against weather extremes and power outages. They are also immune to crashes of large commercial aircraft. At the operating nuclear power plants, there have been no compromises in safety because of the phase-out date, with mandatory testing and maintenance being performed as usual. In plants shut down in 2021, these testing cycles would have to be resumed, unless they are still in operation anyway. The "periodic safety review" to be made up in some plants is a higher-level analysis procedure. It is performed during operation to gain additional insight into plant safety, but does not necessitate a plant shutdown. The energy emergency dictates: It is now high time to initiate the lifetime extension. It should extend into the mid-2030s to give operators and workforces planning security. After all, the lack of secure and at the same time climate-friendly power plant capacity will be the dominant issue of the energy transition for years to come. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) Three active and three additional powerplants that could be reactivated. German govenrment, get your stupid hea dout of your lower back. The industry told Habeck already in early April they could get new nculear fuel, and not for Russia, before end of the year. Habeck lies about it to the German public since then, claiming it could only be gotten from Russia, and would take until next spring to get any. He lies. The whole German bailout from nuclear energy was a hilarious stupid idea from all beginning on. Not a shot just in the foot - more a shot through the head. ----------- On a sidenote, I tried to buy more petroleum (for petroleum ovens) of cleaning grade 5 for my parents, their heating is still on gas. Grade 5, because that is so purified and cleaned that correctly burned it does not smell after an 3-5 minutes ignition phase anymore (telling by experience). The lower the grade, the nastier it smells. *I cannot get any grade 5 petroleum in Germany anymore,* and even internationally my suppliers that I used in the past have dried out, in Italy, Belgium - the traders there where I ordered cannisters of 20l in the past months said they have none anymore - and that the Germans have bought them all. Last autumn, getting electricty independent petroleum heaters like certain Zibro models (Japanese market leader) were easy to get, today it is an emptied market. The prices for low quality petroleum nevertheless have gone through the ceiling. Last year,. I bought grade 5 cannisters for at best just under 55 Euros. Today I would need to accept stink brew grade 4 and 3 costing twice that price. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert. Last edited by Skybird; 07-24-22 at 03:41 PM.