Germany shuts down half of its remaining nuclear plants

Re:Germany shuts down half of its remaining nuclear plants by jhgb on Friday December 31, 2021 @03:40PM (#29752321)

Germany finalized the plans for a nuclear shutdown somewhere around 2021 in a binding law in 2002 (apparently this was based on "remaining energy to be generated", which doesn't naturally allow to put a precise date on it because of annual variations of demand, but all estimates I've seen in the past basically amount to "by very early 2020s"). This was 9 years before the Fukushima disaster. So please explain to me how this was "solely political for federal elections following the Fukushima incident". They would have needed a working crystal ball for that.

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Re:Germany shuts down half of its remaining nuclear plants by whiteboardr on Friday December 31, 2021 @04:09PM (#29752550)

This actually dates back to 1998 when Schröder was chancellor and made the “Atomausstieg” a key topic for federal elections back then - agreed upon by the government and energy corps in 2000.

Momentum really was gained after fukushima.

Again, my personal opinion, this is a reactionary and short sighted approach answering emotional sentiments not scientific data and facts.

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Re:Germany shuts down half of its remaining nuclear plants by belorn on Friday December 31, 2021 @04:26PM (#29752685)

Since Schröder seems to be instrumental in the construction of Nord Stream pipelines, it seems there exist a pretty decent economical incentive to change the energy policy towards the use of more natural gas, using the Fukushima incident to hasten the progress. The less nuclear that exist in the grid the higher the peak price will be during periods of low wind conditions.

Are there other politicians that are invested into natural gas?

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Re:Germany shuts down half of its remaining nuclear plants by jhgb on Friday December 31, 2021 @04:14PM (#29752590)

As far as I can tell, it became a law in 2002. I'm not sure how "momentum really was gained after Fukushima" when the phase-out procedures had to be followed ever since 2002. The whole thing has been in motion for almost twenty years.

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Re:Germany shuts down half of its remaining nuclear plants by whiteboardr on Friday December 31, 2021 @04:56PM (#29752943)

My point is: it is a (really) dumb idea for a country that is facing serious infrastructural issues.

The days of great “german engineering” are mostly (i said “mostly”, ok?) a thing of the past - reality has it that this country lost focus and misses out on vital long-term investements and vision. And unfortunately most of this is driven on a political scale intertwined with classic german big corporations.

The “Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport” has been a joke from the beginning and is a showcase of how incompetent politicians can ruin a country.

Try making a call longer than 20 minutes while driving without it being dropped, charge your car…

Sorry for the rant, but it’s just sad where this is going.

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Re:Germany shuts down half of its remaining nuclear plants by Marc3l on Friday December 31, 2021 @05:54PM (#29753377)

The runtime was expanded in a rule from 2010 and set to a earlier date after Fukushima.

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Re:Germany shuts down half of its remaining nuclear plants by jhgb on Friday December 31, 2021 @06:03PM (#29753438)

I know. The point is that in the long run, the phaseout happened almost exactly as planned twenty years ago. This is no new development, of even a post-Fukushima-development.

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