3 ms·

I'm pro-nuclear, but I find these articles about Germany's anti-nuclear stance extremely frustrating. Blaming the current situation on Fukushima is historicall

I'm pro-nuclear, but I find these articles about Germany's anti-nuclear stance extremely frustrating. Blaming the current situation on Fukushima is historically inaccurate. Imo, there are 2 major reasons for the current stance: 1. Chernobyl: After the disaster in 1986 the anti-nuclear movement gained massive traction. The radioactive cloud spread all the way to West Germany and warnings had to be issued (mushrooms, venison, crops, ...). It was a real turning point, since everyone was made aware of the concerns. [1] 2. "Endlager"-discussion: The search for a permanent nuclear waste deposit was/is a political shitshow. The trial run at Asse (in the 70s) failed: We are currently getting all canisters out of there, after they found contaminated sludge and flooded areas. [2] Further, the decision to select Gorleben as one possible locations was mostly political. The whole process is politically loaded, expensive and devoid of any scientific reasoning. [3] The anti-nuclear decision has been made years before Fukushima for imo valid concerns. The "latest" reactor in Germany went online in 1989, and the decision to phase-out was made in 2002. So the reactors being phased out now are all 30+ years old. Nowadays, I don't think any energy provider in Germany would be willing to invest in NEW fission plants. By the time they will be online, renewables might be way cheaper per kWh. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-nuclear_movement_in_Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-nuclear_movement_in_Germa... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asse_II_mine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asse_II_mine [3] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endlager_(Kerntechnik) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endlager_(Kerntechnik)

ofrzeta 7y ago
> 1. Chernobyl: After the disaster in 1986 the anti-nuclear movement gained massive traction. The radioactive cloud spread all the way to West Germany and warnings had to be issued (mushrooms, venison, crops, ...). It was a real turning point, since everyone was made aware of the concerns. That is true. And also, still today, when in our forests a boar gets killed by a hunter it has to be brought to the administration to meter the radioactivity (due to Cesium 137). A lot of boar gets discarded instead of being eaten because it exceeds the threshold (600 Bq/kg). I don't know what they are doing with it though.
- moepstar 7y ago
  According to my neighbour (hunter), every 2nd has to be discarded due to radioactivity. Being in South-East Germany, we've been hit pretty hard by the fallout winds in 86...
  - ofrzeta 7y ago
    That's probably worst case but a figure I have heard/read, too. With some animals the radiation level is as high as 5000-10000 Bq/kg. Here's an interactive map on the topic: http://www.umweltinstitut.org/themen/radioaktivitaet/messungen/wildschweine.html http://www.umweltinstitut.org/themen/radioaktivitaet/messung... To put that figure into perspective, it is said that eating 6 kg of boar meat with 3000 Bq/kg is equivalent to 240 micro Sievert which equates 12 x-rays of the lung.
verst 7y ago
I grew up in the town with the only uranium enrichment facility in Germany (operated by URENCO). That is where they feed gaseous UF6 (Uranium hexafluoride) into gas centrifuges to split it into a gas higher in U-238 and a gas higher in U-235 concentration. The process is repeated for the enriched U-235 containing gas. I got to tour this facility and visit the centrifuges with my high school class at age 16. (I joke that since then I glow in the dark) Not far away (20km) is the temporary nuclear waste storage Ahaus (pretty similar to Gorleben). About 60km away is Lingen where the company Advanced Nuclear Fuels converts the UF6 enriched in U-235 to Uraniumdioxide UO2 for direct use as nuclear fuel. The nuclear power plant in Lingen uses this type of fuel among other power plants. At this point URENCO is still operating in Gronau, however it appears that Advanced Nuclear Fuels now primarily exports nuclear fuel to other countries. None of the raw uranium ore used in this process comes from Germany. There is plenty of controversy around the sourcing of uranium by URENCO and others. Sources: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urananreicherungsanlage_Gronau https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urananreicherungsanlage_Gronau https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportbeh%C3%A4lterlager_Ahaus https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportbeh%C3%A4lterlager_Ah... https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brennelementfertigungsanlage_Lingen https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brennelementfertigungsanlage_L...

ofrzeta 7y ago

> 1. Chernobyl: After the disaster in 1986 the anti-nuclear movement gained massive traction. The radioactive cloud spread all the way to West Germany and warnings had to be issued (mushrooms, venison, crops, ...). It was a real turning point, since everyone was made aware of the concerns. That is true. And also, still today, when in our forests a boar gets killed by a hunter it has to be brought to the administration to meter the radioactivity (due to Cesium 137). A lot of boar gets discarded instead of being eaten because it exceeds the threshold (600 Bq/kg). I don't know what they are doing with it though.

moepstar 7y ago
According to my neighbour (hunter), every 2nd has to be discarded due to radioactivity. Being in South-East Germany, we've been hit pretty hard by the fallout winds in 86...
- ofrzeta 7y ago
  That's probably worst case but a figure I have heard/read, too. With some animals the radiation level is as high as 5000-10000 Bq/kg. Here's an interactive map on the topic: http://www.umweltinstitut.org/themen/radioaktivitaet/messungen/wildschweine.html http://www.umweltinstitut.org/themen/radioaktivitaet/messung... To put that figure into perspective, it is said that eating 6 kg of boar meat with 3000 Bq/kg is equivalent to 240 micro Sievert which equates 12 x-rays of the lung.

verst 7y ago

I grew up in the town with the only uranium enrichment facility in Germany (operated by URENCO). That is where they feed gaseous UF6 (Uranium hexafluoride) into gas centrifuges to split it into a gas higher in U-238 and a gas higher in U-235 concentration. The process is repeated for the enriched U-235 containing gas. I got to tour this facility and visit the centrifuges with my high school class at age 16. (I joke that since then I glow in the dark) Not far away (20km) is the temporary nuclear waste storage Ahaus (pretty similar to Gorleben). About 60km away is Lingen where the company Advanced Nuclear Fuels converts the UF6 enriched in U-235 to Uraniumdioxide UO2 for direct use as nuclear fuel. The nuclear power plant in Lingen uses this type of fuel among other power plants. At this point URENCO is still operating in Gronau, however it appears that Advanced Nuclear Fuels now primarily exports nuclear fuel to other countries. None of the raw uranium ore used in this process comes from Germany. There is plenty of controversy around the sourcing of uranium by URENCO and others. Sources: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urananreicherungsanlage_Gronau https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urananreicherungsanlage_Gronau https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportbeh%C3%A4lterlager_Ahaus https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportbeh%C3%A4lterlager_Ah... https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brennelementfertigungsanlage_Lingen https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brennelementfertigungsanlage_L...