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Germany shuts down seven reactors‎ because of Fokushima

reuters.com

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Re: Germany shuts down seven reactors‎ because of Fokushima

#21

Post by jonknee »

Roritharr wrote: post #13
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If one of the worst earthquakes on record can't break the containment vessel in these old plants, then I think we're actually doing very well.

it is not clear at this moment if the containment vessel is damaged or not. the spike in radiation levels that was measured lately does indicate that it is broken. Edit: If you want to read up on the radiation levels: http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110315-red-alert-radiatio...

... Which would mean an explosion damaged the containment vessel. The earthquake did remarkably little damage to the plant.

Re: Germany shuts down seven reactors‎ because of Fokushima

#22

Post by more_original »

Context: The previous government had decided to phase out nuclear power by 2020. After the last election the current revoked that decision and even allowed old power plants that were due to be shut down to operate longer. So, if they hadn't revoked that decision, the seven reactors we are talking about her would have been shut down already or would be about to be shut down anyway.

Re: Germany shuts down seven reactors‎ because of Fokushima

#23

Post by [deleted] »

Roritharr wrote: post #13
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If one of the worst earthquakes on record can't break the containment vessel in these old plants, then I think we're actually doing very well.

it is not clear at this moment if the containment vessel is damaged or not. the spike in radiation levels that was measured lately does indicate that it is broken. Edit: If you want to read up on the radiation levels: http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110315-red-alert-radiatio...

[deleted]

Re: Germany shuts down seven reactors‎ because of Fokushima

#24

Post by homecoded »

Roritharr wrote: post #13
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If one of the worst earthquakes on record can't break the containment vessel in these old plants, then I think we're actually doing very well.

it is not clear at this moment if the containment vessel is damaged or not. the spike in radiation levels that was measured lately does indicate that it is broken. Edit: If you want to read up on the radiation levels: http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110315-red-alert-radiatio...

The news ticker at heute.de was pretty sure about it, saying there are two holes each eight square meters in size in reactor 4. Of course I can't say how much truth lies in that statement.

Re: Germany shuts down seven reactors‎ because of Fokushima

#25

Post by xlpz »

thematt wrote: post #19
bhousel wrote: post #9

This strikes me more as a political stunt by Merkel to rally the conservative base in Germany than anything else. Still, it doesn't surprise me that this is such a hot button issue right now. I've long been a supporter of nuclear power, but the events of the past week have made me start to reconsider a lot of my beliefs about its safety.

Why? I actually think the events of the past week prove it's safety. Let put it in perspective: a 40 year old nuclear reactor gets hit by a 9 magnitude earthquake, then slammed with 20 ft. tall swell of water, followed by an explosion due to the buildup of hydrogen gas that blows off the roof of the building, and after all that the core was still mostly intact and contained. That seems like an amazingly positive resu…

What potentially devastating consequences would there be if instead of a nuclear plant a windmill had been hit by an earthquake, tsunami and explosion? I honestly fail to be impressed by this kind of reasoning about nuclear energy's safety.

Disclaimer: I still think fission power might be better in the long run than coal power (catastrophic global warming is worse than any nuclear disaster), but I'd rather do without either and strive for 100% renewable energies. It can be done, just needs the willingness to do it.

Re: Germany shuts down seven reactors‎ because of Fokushima

#26

Post by mironathetin »

bhousel wrote: post #9

This strikes me more as a political stunt by Merkel to rally the conservative base in Germany than anything else. Still, it doesn't surprise me that this is such a hot button issue right now. I've long been a supporter of nuclear power, but the events of the past week have made me start to reconsider a lot of my beliefs about its safety.

I still remember the voices after Chernobyl: Light water reactors are safe and core meltdown can never happen, because the moderator is water. If it evaporates, the moderator is gone and the core will cool down.

Chernobyl was a graphite moderated reactor. When the core overheated, the graphite melted together with the uranium and the nuclear reaction could not be stopped any more.

Now we see how reliable those reports really are. There is no base for any beliefs, if you ask me.

Re: Germany shuts down seven reactors‎ because of Fokushima

#27

Post by sasvari »

thematt wrote: post #19
bhousel wrote: post #9

This strikes me more as a political stunt by Merkel to rally the conservative base in Germany than anything else. Still, it doesn't surprise me that this is such a hot button issue right now. I've long been a supporter of nuclear power, but the events of the past week have made me start to reconsider a lot of my beliefs about its safety.

Why? I actually think the events of the past week prove it's safety. Let put it in perspective: a 40 year old nuclear reactor gets hit by a 9 magnitude earthquake, then slammed with 20 ft. tall swell of water, followed by an explosion due to the buildup of hydrogen gas that blows off the roof of the building, and after all that the core was still mostly intact and contained. That seems like an amazingly positive resu…

That seems like an amazingly positive result to me.

the result might be not positive enough regarding the possible long-term damage it still can have to the environment and the japanese people (35M in tokyo area alone).

Re: Germany shuts down seven reactors‎ because of Fokushima

#28

Post by nopassrecover »

raganwald wrote: post #4
pieter wrote: post #2

I guess a knee-jerk reaction can be expected in a country where nuclear power is currently pretty controversial.

Think of a needle on a gauge representing public opinion about nuclear power. One half of the gauge reads green for nukes. The other half is red for no nukes. If the needle is firmly in the green, a slight shift towards red in response to Fukushima might mean commissioning some studies and announcing a budget for upgrading the safety features. But if the needle is just barely into the green, a slight shift moves it i…

"Biggest (nuclear) emergency since Chernobyl" seems hyperbolic unless the situation has changed considerably since I last looked at it. Indeed in Japan alone the Mihama Nuclear Power Plant accident in 2004 caused more fatalities than Fukushima has so far.

Re: Germany shuts down seven reactors‎ because of Fokushima

#29

Post by nakkiel »

bhousel wrote: post #9

This strikes me more as a political stunt by Merkel to rally the conservative base in Germany than anything else. Still, it doesn't surprise me that this is such a hot button issue right now. I've long been a supporter of nuclear power, but the events of the past week have made me start to reconsider a lot of my beliefs about its safety.

Assuming the conservative base in Germany wouldn't back Nuclear Energy. I don't know what it's worth but this wouldn't be true in France for example.

As for reconsidering Nucealr Energy, I still think we should wait for the end of the whole thing. Indeed I realize this won't happen.

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