Here's a good article to give context about this decision and why Germans - who were affected by Chernobyl, btw - support this.
https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/history-behind-ge...
Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
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Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#12Totally insane - what are they thinking? This is the best chance for climate
And what is plan B - more gas from Putin? Insane
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#13they are replacing it mostly with gas from Russia. Great idea! /s
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#14German energy policies are insane. Shutting down nuclear energy without replacing source. Already planning shut down of coal plants, also without any plans for replacement. And with Green Party in power it can only become worse. But we shouldn’t worry as long as we can import expensive dirty energy from other countries and complain it’s them and not us not doing enough to stop global warning.
> “From a pure emissions perspective, it was always a questionable idea to shut down German nuclear before the plants have reached the end of their lifetime,”
That's very questionable. Unless they have audited and found uncorrectable design flaws, it really doesn't make sense. A lot of the push seems to have come after Fukushima - an entirely different design, in a different country, with different regulation constraints(some of which were actually violated) and in a region subject to severe natural disasters.
It's not like the risk to German plants suddenly increased after that event.
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#15This is insane to me. Nuclear is the best long-term option for ecologically-friendly energy generation. This is absolutely a bad move, and the coal industry has done a great job of demonizing nuclear power.
if this accelerates transitioning to renewables, it is not insane.
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#16German energy policies are insane. Shutting down nuclear energy without replacing source. Already planning shut down of coal plants, also without any plans for replacement. And with Green Party in power it can only become worse. But we shouldn’t worry as long as we can import expensive dirty energy from other countries and complain it’s them and not us not doing enough to stop global warning.
The insane part is only that not enough is done to boost energy distribution from renewables. So many subventions have been dumped into nuclear and the cost for disposal, it makes sense to move out beyond safety concerns. About the time: to there could have been better times but there was a political momentum and I think a majority of German are in support of the transition.
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#17https://michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/netherlands-goes...
Holland is building two new reactors, and
'Energy and electricity prices are at record levels due to Europe’s over-reliance on renewables, inadequate supplies of nuclear energy, and shortages of oil and gas due to under-investment in oil and gas exploration and production. Carbon emissions in Germany rose 25% in the first half of 2020 due in large part to a 25% decline in wind, underscoring the unreliable nature of weather-dependent renewables. In response, both France and Britain have promised a major expansion of nuclear energy.'
Very turbulent times in EU energy markets.
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#18This is insane to me. Nuclear is the best long-term option for ecologically-friendly energy generation. This is absolutely a bad move, and the coal industry has done a great job of demonizing nuclear power.
if this accelerates transitioning to renewables, it is not insane.
Well it’s definitely accelerating transitioning to Russian gas.
Edit: gas not oil
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#19This is insane to me. Nuclear is the best long-term option for ecologically-friendly energy generation. This is absolutely a bad move, and the coal industry has done a great job of demonizing nuclear power.
if this accelerates transitioning to renewables, it is not insane.
Things can't be conditionally sane or insane. A winning gamble remains a gamble and people are right to balk and say "you bet the house on this?".
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#20This is insane to me. Nuclear is the best long-term option for ecologically-friendly energy generation. This is absolutely a bad move, and the coal industry has done a great job of demonizing nuclear power.
if this accelerates transitioning to renewables, it is not insane.
You can’t start up the equivalent of “half a country’s nuclear reactors” in 2 weeks. For this to happen you must already have an excess of renewables, which they obviously don’t have.
What will happen is that more coal will be burned because coal always works and is instantly available; Sun and wind isn’t.