5 ms·

1975: The first cancellation of a planned nuclear power plant occurred in Wyhl, Germany due to protests from "environmentalists".

brettermeier 3y ago
That's good news, take it further!
- Zealotux 3y ago
  Yes! As a French, I love breathing polluted air from German coal mines[1]; I will take that over any battle-tested reasonable alternative any day! [1] https://www.euractiv.com/section/air-pollution/news/german-coal-plant-exposed-as-europes-single-worst-air-polluter/ https://www.euractiv.com/section/air-pollution/news/german-c...
  - brettermeier 3y ago
    With climate change your reactors will maybe be worth nothing: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/warming-rivers-threaten-frances-already-tight-power-supply-2022-07-15/ https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/warming-rivers-threa... That's why france imported much energy from other european countries in that phase, good job.
- lawn 3y ago
  Perfect is the enemy of good. As a result we're now relying on more coal and gas than the much cleaner nuclear energy. What lovely progress!
tmalsburg2 3y ago
And yet CO2 per capita is much lower in Germany than in the US. So Germany must also be doing something right.
- lm28469 3y ago
  Not for electricity production. Europeeans tend to have less disposable income and be less consumerist, smaller and better heated/insulated houses, less cars per household, &c.
  - tmalsburg2 3y ago
    > Not for electricity production. A quick Google search suggests ~350g CO2 per KWh in Germany vs. ~400g in the US. Looks plausible to me. Germany uses coal but also has a very substantial share of renewables. Another quick search also shows that 60% of electricity in the US is from fossil fuels. The rest is nuclear and renewables in about equal amounts.
- weberer 3y ago
  Protestors sabotaged the transition to nuclear power in the USA too. It wasn't limited to Germany, that's just where it started.
aequitas 3y ago
In 1991 Germany closed a finished but not operational power plant in Kalkar[0]. Nowadays it's a theme park built by Dutch entrepreneur Hennie van der Most, who is famous for these kinds of projects. I've visited the plant as a kid with my dad and uncles when it was open for public but barely any work had been done on the demolition or transforming into a theme park. For me it was the most awesome theme park I ever visited. You could go into the control room and press all the (buttons), look inside the reactor, see all the technology that went inside this plant, peruse the entire complex and visit almost every building as almost nothing was off limits except for what was used by the park staff for office/storage. I still regret not having a camera at that time to capture everything I saw. Nowadays it's 'just' a theme park with an all-in formula. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNR-300 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNR-300

brettermeier 3y ago

That's good news, take it further!

Zealotux 3y ago
Yes! As a French, I love breathing polluted air from German coal mines[1]; I will take that over any battle-tested reasonable alternative any day! [1] https://www.euractiv.com/section/air-pollution/news/german-coal-plant-exposed-as-europes-single-worst-air-polluter/ https://www.euractiv.com/section/air-pollution/news/german-c...
- brettermeier 3y ago
  With climate change your reactors will maybe be worth nothing: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/warming-rivers-threaten-frances-already-tight-power-supply-2022-07-15/ https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/warming-rivers-threa... That's why france imported much energy from other european countries in that phase, good job.
lawn 3y ago
Perfect is the enemy of good. As a result we're now relying on more coal and gas than the much cleaner nuclear energy. What lovely progress!

tmalsburg2 3y ago

And yet CO2 per capita is much lower in Germany than in the US. So Germany must also be doing something right.

lm28469 3y ago
Not for electricity production. Europeeans tend to have less disposable income and be less consumerist, smaller and better heated/insulated houses, less cars per household, &c.
- tmalsburg2 3y ago
  > Not for electricity production. A quick Google search suggests ~350g CO2 per KWh in Germany vs. ~400g in the US. Looks plausible to me. Germany uses coal but also has a very substantial share of renewables. Another quick search also shows that 60% of electricity in the US is from fossil fuels. The rest is nuclear and renewables in about equal amounts.
weberer 3y ago
Protestors sabotaged the transition to nuclear power in the USA too. It wasn't limited to Germany, that's just where it started.

aequitas 3y ago

In 1991 Germany closed a finished but not operational power plant in Kalkar[0]. Nowadays it's a theme park built by Dutch entrepreneur Hennie van der Most, who is famous for these kinds of projects. I've visited the plant as a kid with my dad and uncles when it was open for public but barely any work had been done on the demolition or transforming into a theme park. For me it was the most awesome theme park I ever visited. You could go into the control room and press all the (buttons), look inside the reactor, see all the technology that went inside this plant, peruse the entire complex and visit almost every building as almost nothing was off limits except for what was used by the park staff for office/storage. I still regret not having a camera at that time to capture everything I saw. Nowadays it's 'just' a theme park with an all-in formula. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNR-300 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNR-300