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> Turning gas off is a nuclear option for Kremlin The Kremlin is as dependent on that $$$ as Germany is on gas, perhaps even more so. They won't dream of screw

by m0zg 5y ago

> Turning gas off is a nuclear option for Kremlin The Kremlin is as dependent on that $$$ as Germany is on gas, perhaps even more so. They won't dream of screwing their largest client, and one of the most important trading partners. If Germany was desperate for energy it wouldn't be engaging in super expensive "green" energy boondoggles and it'd be building up baseline nuclear capacity. They _easily_ have the engineering to do it, and the operational capability to run it safely. The fact that they are not doing this is quite telling - they too do not believe the Kremlin would be prepared to blow off its feet with a Gatling gun like that. If anything a trade partnership like that only makes Europe more stable, and any political or military shenanigans would be less likely to occur. Crucially it'd also strengthen the ties between the two countries, which is something the US does not want to see, because then the US sanctions would be only good for wiping one's ass with. Can't have that. Full disclosure: Russian-American, but not a fan of Putin.

LargoLasskhyfv 5y ago
Mostly agreed, but regarding _easily_ having the engineering to do anything nuclear I doubt it. That was in the past. Nothing much new (nuclear) got built recently. And not by Siemens anyways, they maybe do some substation and turbine stuff, but that's it. The other thing is... all the stuff getting built in Sibiria, pointing east, and south east. Into China, partially existing already. Proposals to expand that into India. And to bridge the gaps to the other already existing stuff pointing west, into Europe. Given a few years and much investment into infrastructure one could imagine them simply switching the lever to whereever it makes more sense for them.
- m0zg 5y ago
  Well, maybe "easily" was an exaggeration, but Germany is home to some of the bleeding edge particle physics installations, and some of the world's leading scientific institutions, so at least the science side should be pretty solid. For engineering I'm sure Siemens would make things happen if a large enough pallet of cash is offered to it. With some pressure, it could even produce newer designs that are cheaper if built in quantity, than the purportedly "green" alternatives that do not provide baseline load capacity. The only real issue that's getting in the way is public opinion - the soil has been salted quite thoroughly on that, as far as I understand. But that'll change once a few people freeze to death.
  - LargoLasskhyfv 5y ago
    Having known parts of Siemens by having to deal with them in the past, I doubt it. We have a saying here: "Siemens ist 'ne Bank mit angeschlossener Elektroabateilung" which translates into something like "Siemens is a bank with electric department". That covers some of it, but they are more like an arrogant and snobbish government institution and have the same inertia. Because of that I'd rather count on small modular reactors from whomever, or even fusion by some startup, not via ITER, or Wendelstein-X.

by m0zg 5y ago

LargoLasskhyfv 5y ago

Mostly agreed, but regarding _easily_ having the engineering to do anything nuclear I doubt it. That was in the past. Nothing much new (nuclear) got built recently. And not by Siemens anyways, they maybe do some substation and turbine stuff, but that's it. The other thing is... all the stuff getting built in Sibiria, pointing east, and south east. Into China, partially existing already. Proposals to expand that into India. And to bridge the gaps to the other already existing stuff pointing west, into Europe. Given a few years and much investment into infrastructure one could imagine them simply switching the lever to whereever it makes more sense for them.

m0zg 5y ago
Well, maybe "easily" was an exaggeration, but Germany is home to some of the bleeding edge particle physics installations, and some of the world's leading scientific institutions, so at least the science side should be pretty solid. For engineering I'm sure Siemens would make things happen if a large enough pallet of cash is offered to it. With some pressure, it could even produce newer designs that are cheaper if built in quantity, than the purportedly "green" alternatives that do not provide baseline load capacity. The only real issue that's getting in the way is public opinion - the soil has been salted quite thoroughly on that, as far as I understand. But that'll change once a few people freeze to death.
- LargoLasskhyfv 5y ago
  Having known parts of Siemens by having to deal with them in the past, I doubt it. We have a saying here: "Siemens ist 'ne Bank mit angeschlossener Elektroabateilung" which translates into something like "Siemens is a bank with electric department". That covers some of it, but they are more like an arrogant and snobbish government institution and have the same inertia. Because of that I'd rather count on small modular reactors from whomever, or even fusion by some startup, not via ITER, or Wendelstein-X.