It seems to me that that the harms from power generation increases only in logarithmic proportion to the amount of energy generated for nuclear (adding a few more hundred tonnes of waste to an existing storage facility doesn't really increase harm all that much), in linear proportions for renewables (more hills must be covered with wind turbines to generate more energy), and for fossil fuels the harm is to some degree in an exponential relationship due to the feedback effects of increasing carbon dioxide. Unfortunately I don't think the world is in a position to give up nuclear just yet, and Germany certainly isn't.
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
#42California is doing the same insane thing, unbelievable, this is worse than denying climate change
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#43Please correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding is that nuclear doesn't ramp up/down very well either. Most nuclear plants use fission for the base load but gas or other fossil fuel generators for the variable part. Since in Germany green power in the form of solar/wind are even more variable, this makes Nuclear + Solar/Wind a bad combo. Wind and solar don't even make sense for Germany given their climate/geograp…
Nuclear plants can adjust reasonably quickly in theory, but most plants don’t have the equipment to do in practice.
This is because nuclear has a very low marginal cost of power - a kJ is very cheap if you’ve already built the plant - so the plants are intended to run full-tilt to make the most of your very expensive asset.
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#44Here'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...
This is an important point. People don't easily forget when they had to avoid fresh fruit, vegetables and meat for a year because it was radioactive.
It makes the decision to shut down nuclear power plants understandable, but not right.
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#45Leaving Germany burning lignite (halfway between peat moss and coal) and buying natural gas from Russia. The worst of both worlds.
I don’t understand this move with Putin shutting off gas to flex. It’s going to be a very cold, very expensive winter for the Germans.
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#46Frustrating.
Also ironic, the idea that climate activists are a significant cause of climate change.
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#47This is not just about Germany, it affects energy and gas prices across Europe and it makes Europe more dependant on Russia.
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#48This 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.
We experienced fallout from Chernobyl (radiation levels of wild boar meat and some mushrooms are still under surveillance today) and we were designated nuclear ground zero in case that the Soviets tried to invade Europe. What attitude towards all things nuclear do you expect to arise from that?
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#49This 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.
Unless there is a higher risk of war. Can you imagine if WWII had been a bit more technologically advanced, with bombing raids on nuclear reactors? Here’s a report on their vulnerability in a modern war.
https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/...
Re: Germany is closing half of its reactors before the end of the year
#50Leaving Germany burning lignite (halfway between peat moss and coal) and buying natural gas from Russia. The worst of both worlds.
And nuclear from France if I'm not mistaken.
"We no longer produce electricity with coal or nuclear! We just buy it from other countries and then browbeat them about environmental responsibility!" doesn't seem like a sustainable energy policy.