(fb comments May 13th, 2011)
Masada Disenhouse posted this article:
Panel Urges Germany to Close Nuclear Plants by 2021
http://www.nytimes.com
The commission said such a move could help the German economy by reducing energy use and developing other power sources.
on Thursday � Like � � Share � Unsubscribe
4 people like this.
Ace Hoffman why wait ’til then? They’re only risking disaster!
Yesterday at 2:15pm � Like
Anne Hogue-Boucher Germany is very loyal when it comes to helping people find new jobs. I believe that would be one of the reasons in taking time to make the transition over to new and renewable energy sources. Deconstruction of a great monster takes time, just as it took time to build it up, and should there be errors in shut down, it could lead to disaster just as easily.
Yesterday at 2:17pm � Like � 1 person
Ace Hoffman Good jobs? Renewables. Bad jobs? Fukushima. And, I’m not sure what sort of “errors in shut down” would cause a disaster near so easy as not doing it can! The world cannot afford to move slowly on these issues. The pronuclear lobby is counting on apathy and disinterest setting in. But the main reason not to wait is that disasters beckon from keeping the plants open more than from anything else.
Yesterday at 2:21pm � Like
Masada Disenhouse As annoying as it is it always takes time to transition both technically and politically… I think a 10 year plan, if it’s real, is reasonable since they get almost a quarter of their electricity that way at the moment. All the referendum changes we have (like prop 2 say, banning inhumane cages for farm animals) usually have a built in implementation period as well.
Yesterday at 2:52pm � Like � 1 person
Suzy Skye yeah, it is ironic that we RUSH into war but drag our feet to end suffering. this dominant bunch of monkeys that mismanage and devastate this planet are appalling.
23 hours ago � Like
Anne Hogue-Boucher Oh yes, shutting down a nuclear power plant instantly without any concern as to what will happen to the reactor cores, waste products, and proper dismantling would be “great” for Gaia. Just close it and let the reactors overheat…huh. If it could be done in a day, that would be great, I’m all for it, but I don’t think that’s practical.
23 hours ago � Like
Ace Hoffman Actually, they are shut down in seconds on a regular basis — it’s called a SCRAM. They don’t overheat just because someone decides they are uneconomical, unproductive, dangerous, and create hazardous waste at the rate of about 250 pounds per day of “spent fuel”. I suggest you check out my book for more information: The Code Killers available as a free download from my home page: http://www.acehoffman.org
23 hours ago � Like
Maggie Wertwyn posted
21 hours ago � Like
Anne Hogue-Boucher Germany will not allow unemployment of that magnitude, however, so they will be transitioning to other power sources in the interim, and to do a SCRAM when you’re country is dependent on power is still, in a word, impractical.
21 hours ago � Like
Anne Hogue-Boucher *on that amount of power (that should have read)
21 hours ago � Like
Ace Hoffman
lol! German reactors SCRAM all the time, as do all. And a trivial percentage of Germany’s work force work in nuclear power — well less than 1%, and they would be immediately reemployed. I strongly recommend you read my books, or somebod…See More
21 hours ago � Like
Anne Hogue-Boucher So you don’t really think they’re going to make the transition at all, then? That it’s just lip service?
21 hours ago � Like
Ace Hoffman
Oh, they might be in earnest, that’s not what I was saying. I was saying they don’t really have to take it so slow. We all can do it as a transition or as an emergency redirection. It wouldn’t be that hard in America to shut them all dow…See More
20 hours ago � Like � 1 person
Anne Hogue-Boucher OK, so can you convert the power plants themselves into something or do you have to leave them as just an abandoned NPP? Could they themselves be converted into solar collectors or wind power plants?
20 hours ago � Like
Ace Hoffman In some cases it could be done, certainly the grid that it utilized could be used, the switchyards contain useful transformers that could be placed elsewhere at the very least… in theory you could boil water another way and run it through the turbines… but mostly, they’re old and that would be more inefficient than building new structures with new designs specifically for whatever technology you want to use. Industry constant rebuilds itself… look at all the “perfectly good” buildings that are regularly imploded just to make room for better ones… these things happen, it’s not that big a deal, except in this case, the cost of continuing to rely on nuclear power might be the end of Germany… after all those years of trying to rebuild after WWII, they could be destroyed by technology just like anybody else can (that has a nuke or lives near somebody else’s).
a few seconds ago � Like
acehoffman 