3 ms·

Kind of related question-- how hard will it be for Germany to reopen its nuclear reactors? Politically, it seems like the environment has changed at least.

jacquesm 5y ago
Very hard. Lots of stuff out of certification unless they were mothballed with the explicit goal of being restartable, if the fuel has been removed it will be weeks at a minimum, but more likely months assuming that it is possible at all.
- throwthere 5y ago
  Interesting. So at a pretty large expense do you think it’s something that could be done before next winter?
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    Tough question, there are a number of nuclear plant engineers on HN that should be able to give more clarity. When Pickering shut down in Ontario because of the powerfailure the shutdown took less than a minute, the restart took more than two weeks. And that was with a fully fueled operationally ready plant. Refueling is a month or so normally, but what I am wondering about is if you leave a plant like that powered off for a while without the express goal of restarting it (besides the removal of the fuel) how much of it will require refurbishing before it can all work again. I would expect that the whole plant would need to be recertified before it could be operated again.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    So, some more reading later: there is a 'post operational' phase prior to the actual decomissioning when stuff starts to be taken apart and removed. I think the question to be answered is whether or not these plants are still in the 'post operational' phase or whether there has already been decommissioning, so far I have not been able to find anything definitive on this.
rhexs 5y ago
This is just about as likely as the EU switching from social safety net spending to actually being able to field a military that can defend their borders.
TavsiE9s 5y ago
With the Green Party being part of the Government? Hah!

jacquesm 5y ago

Very hard. Lots of stuff out of certification unless they were mothballed with the explicit goal of being restartable, if the fuel has been removed it will be weeks at a minimum, but more likely months assuming that it is possible at all.

throwthere 5y ago
Interesting. So at a pretty large expense do you think it’s something that could be done before next winter?
- jacquesm 5y ago
  Tough question, there are a number of nuclear plant engineers on HN that should be able to give more clarity. When Pickering shut down in Ontario because of the powerfailure the shutdown took less than a minute, the restart took more than two weeks. And that was with a fully fueled operationally ready plant. Refueling is a month or so normally, but what I am wondering about is if you leave a plant like that powered off for a while without the express goal of restarting it (besides the removal of the fuel) how much of it will require refurbishing before it can all work again. I would expect that the whole plant would need to be recertified before it could be operated again.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  So, some more reading later: there is a 'post operational' phase prior to the actual decomissioning when stuff starts to be taken apart and removed. I think the question to be answered is whether or not these plants are still in the 'post operational' phase or whether there has already been decommissioning, so far I have not been able to find anything definitive on this.

rhexs 5y ago

This is just about as likely as the EU switching from social safety net spending to actually being able to field a military that can defend their borders.

TavsiE9s 5y ago

With the Green Party being part of the Government? Hah!