NOW A WORD FROM THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY

Germany’s nuclear energy blunder
Editorial, June 1, 2011 (Washington Post)

"…[G] lobal energy-related carbon emissions last year were the highest ever, and…the world is far off track if it wants to keep temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius…[but] Germany’s government [has decided to shut] down terawatts of low-carbon electric capacity in the middle of Europe. Bowing to misguided political pressure from Germany’s Green Party, Chancellor Angela Merkel endorsed a plan to close all of the country’s nuclear power plants by 2022.

"German environmentalists cheered, apparently satisfied that the government will be able to scale up renewable energy sources and scale back electricity demand enough to compensate for the loss of the power plants, which produce a quarter of the nation’s electricity. But the Breakthrough Institute, a [pro-nuclear] think tank, points out that renewables would have to generate an incredible 42.4 percent of the country’s electricity in 2020 to displace nuclear. The government could bring that number down some with very aggressive reductions in energy use…"

This is the nuclear industry's latest, laughably transparent propaganda. It omits the cancers, the cancer clusters and the long term consequences from plant accidents, waste spills and transport accidents. Skipping over such minor concerns makes this statistically correct. Statistics are doing the people of Fukushima no good right now. (click to enlarge)

"…[Some] European financial analysts…[estimate] Germany’s move will result in about 400 million tons of extra carbon emissions by 2020, as the country relies more on fossil fuels…Germany is…likely to import more power from its neighbors, regardless of how well it does in ramping up renewables, since sometimes the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine. Utilities across Europe may end up burning more coal or natural gas. Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive of French nuclear parts manufacturer Areva, predicts that after shunning nuclear, the Germans will end up buying electricity generated in nuclear plants in nations such as France.

"Instead of providing a model for greening a post-industrial economy, Germany’s overreaching greens are showing the rest of the world just how difficult it is to contemplate big cuts in carbon emissions without keeping nuclear power on the table.
Panicked overreaction isn’t the right response to the partial meltdowns in Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex. Instead, countries…should ask how to minimize inevitable, if small, risks — making their nuclear facilities safer, more reliable and more efficient."