Germany sees shift in sentiment toward atomic energy
1–10 of 304 posts
Re: Germany sees shift in sentiment toward atomic energy
#2unfortunately, as energy strategy is a multi-decadal commitment, the decisions on what to do should not be left to mercurial changes in popular sentiment
Re: Germany sees shift in sentiment toward atomic energy
#3unfortunately, as energy strategy is a multi-decadal commitment, the decisions on what to do should not be left to mercurial changes in popular sentiment
They were making the wrong decision for decades, moving away from nuclear while continuing to increase dependence on Russian gas (against the advice of 4-5 different US administrations). I agree that strategies shouldn't be made on knee jerk changes in public sentiment, but in this case the public is just starting to understand the correct answer that was always there.
Re: Germany sees shift in sentiment toward atomic energy
#4unfortunately, as energy strategy is a multi-decadal commitment, the decisions on what to do should not be left to mercurial changes in popular sentiment
In Germany we had one well thought out decision regarding nuclear power. That was over turned twice due to "sentiment", maybe a third time now. And everytime that hapened it turned out, well, not perfect.
Re: Germany sees shift in sentiment toward atomic energy
#5unfortunately, as energy strategy is a multi-decadal commitment, the decisions on what to do should not be left to mercurial changes in popular sentiment
So are you saying that Germany should continue its multi-decadal course towards being dependent on Russia for its energy needs?
As Winston Churchill said, "Democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried." Yes, its shortcomings are obvious. But it is still worth accepting.
Re: Germany sees shift in sentiment toward atomic energy
#6Can any Germans on HN explain why Germany finds it preferable to give up their energy independence in nuclear and instead buy it from their potential adversary in Russia?
What possible advantages are there to buying the resource that literally keeps the lights on from a country that you have conflicts with?
Re: Germany sees shift in sentiment toward atomic energy
#7Can any Germans on HN explain why Germany finds it preferable to give up their energy independence in nuclear and instead buy it from their potential adversary in Russia? What possible advantages are there to buying the resource that literally keeps the lights on from a country that you have conflicts with?
There are some good podcasts on this, you can find one on Guardian Long Reads: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/02/germany-depend...
The tldr; is it started with a stated goal of Unfortunately through some combination of greed, complacency, and dumb nuclear strategy, dependency kept ratcheting up over the decades, slowly boiling the frog into the disaster soup we have today.
Re: Germany sees shift in sentiment toward atomic energy
#8Can any Germans on HN explain why Germany finds it preferable to give up their energy independence in nuclear and instead buy it from their potential adversary in Russia? What possible advantages are there to buying the resource that literally keeps the lights on from a country that you have conflicts with?
because their anti-nuclear environmental groups were actually being funded by Russia behind the scenes.
And there are still fools who think that economic integration somehow prevents wars, which was shown to be false after WWI. These people said if Europe just paid a bunch of money for Russian energy they'd obviously never attack them. See what's happening with China and the US as more proof that handing over your economy doesn't placate anybody
Re: Germany sees shift in sentiment toward atomic energy
#9Can any Germans on HN explain why Germany finds it preferable to give up their energy independence in nuclear and instead buy it from their potential adversary in Russia? What possible advantages are there to buying the resource that literally keeps the lights on from a country that you have conflicts with?
Not German, but the Greens (ruling party) in Germany basically built their platform on being anti-nuclear. They'd rather burn wet coal than walk that back.
Re: Germany sees shift in sentiment toward atomic energy
#10> The results are astounding all around
Faced with burning wood to keep warm in winter, the results are entirely predictable.