• boomzilla@programming.dev
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      11 hours ago

      https://www.dw.com/en/germany-nuclear-power-plants-european-union-energy-policy/a-76305267

      Even the ultra conservative ex-blackrock chancellor Merz with the least favourable public opinion polling results, says it’s impossible, though he regrets the exit, although his own party decided affirmatively on this back then after Fukushima.

      CDU/CSU the christian conservative party of Merz had slogans of a reboot of nuclear power in their federal election campaigns and were touting heavy investments in fusion and SMR research and some of the ultra reactionary (no pun) NIMBYs of the CSU wanted to reboot their beloved reactors but always rejected nuclear waste storages in their beautiful state of Bavaria. Now they’re number 4 of 16 German states in solar buildout and Hubert Aiwanger, an infamous CSU politician always ranting against everything woke, is posting videos in which he standing in front of a pasture with grazing sheeps under solar panels and below whispering wind turbines.


      The CEO of RWE, which operated the nuclear plants, says it’s not feasible:

      https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2025-02-06/rwe-ceo-says-germany-needs-to-replace-nuclear-coal-video


      Nuclear power is the most expensive form of energy production:

      https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/de/veroeffentlichungen/studien/studie-stromgestehungskosten-erneuerbare-energien.html

      The grey bar on the first diagram represents the cost per kilowatt for nuclear. All the bars up to and including the blue bar are renewables. The tax payer would have to shoulder a lot for that all the while solar and batteries are getting cheaper and cheaper with tech like sodium-ion. You also have to train new operators for the power plants while many of those capable of training are already retired. In addition tax payers will still have to cover the cost of dealing with the nuclear waste leaking from the “end-storage” Asse.

      All in all reactivating nuclear would heavily up the energy prices. The only chance for turning towards that course is when the fascists from AfD will take over who announced ofc they’ll tear down renewables and reboot the nuclear energy sector as well as the coal energy sector. That bunch of fucking boomers also deny any man made climate change and generally any kind of science and reality.

      • Forester@pawb.social
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        4 days ago

        Because if they keep the reactors running, how are they going to justify buying Russian petrochemicals?.

    • Kissaki@feddit.org
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      4 days ago

      In 30 years if you start now, and for how many billions?

      And then you gotta turn them off in summer when rivers are too hot or too low.