Why Germany Hates Nuclear Power

Why Germany Hates Nuclear Power

Why Germany Hates Nuclear Power

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Credits:
Writer/Narrator: Brian McManus
Writer: Josi Gold
Editor: Dylan Hennessy
Animator: Mike Ridolfi
Animator: Eli Prenten
Sound: Graham Haerther
Thumbnail: Simon Buckmaster


References:
[1]https://www-pub.iaea.org/mtcd/publica…
[2] https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/…
[3] https://www.politico.eu/article/parli…
[4] EU parliament backs labelling gas and nuclear investments as green https://www.reuters.com/business/sust…
[5] https://www.trade.gov/country-commerc…
[6] Explainer: Why nuclear-powered France faces power outage risks
https://www.reuters.com/business/ener…

[7] EDF ordered to inspect 200 nuclear pipe weldings after more cracks discovered
https://www.reuters.com/business/ener…
[8] Welders wanted: France steps up recruitment drive as nuclear crisis deepens
https://www.reuters.com/business/ener…
[9]
French parliament votes nuclear plan with large majority
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/…
[10] EDF announces new delay for Flamanville EPR reactor
https://www.reuters.com/business/ener…
[11] https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/sta…



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Content

0.399 -> This is Germany in the 1980s.
3.149 -> Before the Berlin Wall came down.
4.95 -> Still fractured in two between two world superpowers, and this is the map of Nuclear Power plants
10.47 -> that powered the country.
12.37 -> The 1980s was an eventful time period for this recovering nation.
16.449 -> Chernobyl, located here, just north of Kiev, exploded.
20.37 -> Showering Europe in radioactive material.
22.75 -> The severity of the incident can be hard to grasp in hindsight.
27.4 -> Iodine tablets were distributed across Europe.
29.97 -> An emergency preventative medicine to ensure that the thyroid gland is saturated in non-radioactive
35.58 -> iodine, preventing it from absorbing the radioactive iodine present in nuclear fallout.
40.039 -> Where it could fester and cause cancer.
43.16 -> The fallout from Chernobyl spread on westerly winds across Europe.
47.06 -> And the news spread even faster.
49.079 -> The people of Europe were afraid.
50.73 -> “Local people received 7.4 milligrays an hour of radiation
55.109 -> Radioactive cesium is recycling in the moss Because I have been thinking all day about
60.6 -> this radiation radiation and nothing more The chernobyl disaster could reap a bitter
66.21 -> harvest for the peasant farmers of Poland's far north east
69.65 -> If the worst has already happened, the first cases of leukemia should be appearing now.”
76.34 -> Chernobyl was given the highest ranking on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
80.35 -> A 7, a major accident with a large release of radioactive materials.
84.909 -> Or, in less technical terms, Europe was crop dusted in cancer dust.
90.37 -> [1]
91.37 -> This event, understandably, put a massive dent in support for nuclear energy across
96.14 -> the world.
97.549 -> But, this wasn’t the genesis of the anti-nuclear movement in Germany.
103.07 -> In 1975, 30,000 protestors occupied the construction site of a new nuclear power plant in south
109.86 -> western Germany, on the border with France.
112.84 -> In 1979, 7 years before chernobyl, 200,000 protestors took to the streets of Germany
119.84 -> after the 3 Mile Island nuclear disaster in the United States.
124.34 -> The anti-nuclear movement in Germany was a grassroots movement, led by the people, and
129.47 -> driven by fears of the very real danger nuclear energy poses.
134.03 -> There was a tremendous amount of political pressure to begin phasing out these plants,
138.319 -> and these protests led directly to the creation of Germany’s Green Party in 1980.
144.62 -> The Chernobyl accident of 1986 simply strengthened the support for the Greens political ideology.
151.3 -> To phase out nuclear energy completely.
153.88 -> In 1998, the Green Party came into power for the first time, and the true end of nuclear
159.271 -> power in Germany was all but secured.
161.84 -> It was decided that no new nuclear power generators would be built in the country from then forward,
168.04 -> and in 2002 a law banning new nuclear energy was passed.
172.849 -> With two nuclear power plants being taken offline prematurely in Germany soon after.
177.629 -> Angela Merkel, and her opposition party the CDU, called these deactivations “destruction
182.98 -> of national property”
184.61 -> However, in the wake of the Fukushima Disaster, even Merkel's opposition to the anti-nuclear
190 -> movement began to falter.
191.93 -> Fukushima is the only other incident in the history of nuclear power that was ranked on
197.209 -> par with Chernobyl, receiving the highest ranking possible due to its impact on the
202.45 -> environment and the people of Japan.
205.459 -> The Green Party’s power in Germany was now at an all time high, winning control in influential
211.5 -> and powerful states in the south of Germany for the first time.
215.26 -> The anti-nuclear movement was too large a political football, or perhaps nuclear football,
220.59 -> to ignore, and Merkel’s CDU party joined the anti-nuclear movement.
225.989 -> Nuclear Energy had lost this war, and the final nuclear power plants in Germany began
230.26 -> to flicker out.
232.88 -> On April 15th 2023.
240.54 -> The final nuclear power plant was shut down.
243.26 -> Holding on through the energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion on Ukraine, it finally
248.62 -> met its planned end.
250.58 -> The images of protestors, celebrating the end of their 50 year war on nuclear energy,
255.97 -> were met with anger and disgust by pro-nuclear activists online.
260.95 -> Mirroring Merkal’s “destruction of national property” outrage in the early 2000s.
266.62 -> How could you celebrate something that so clearly harms Germany’s goals of clean energy.
272.34 -> Shutting its nuclear facilities has caused Germany to be far more dependent on fossil
276.5 -> fuel than its neighbor France.
279.37 -> This is what a typical day in France looks like.
282.919 -> Baseload is provided by nuclear energy.
285.72 -> Providing 65-75% of the country's power depending on the time of day.
291.26 -> Wind, Solar and Hydro play their part too, with a small amount of flexible gas powered
296.6 -> plants available to quickly ramp up when called upon.
300.47 -> Releasing just 30-40 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour generated.
306.12 -> France is in a group of few.
307.69 -> An industrial giant.
309.72 -> Energy independent.
311.16 -> Not reliant on foreign imports of fossil fuels.
314.23 -> And not just powering its own country on low carbon energy,
317.54 -> It also supports its own economy by exporting massive quantities of this power to its neighbors
323.78 -> through high voltage interconnections.
325.81 -> A rare example of a country with few fossil fuel resources of its own becoming an energy
332.29 -> exporter.
333.97 -> Germany couldn’t be any more different.
336.34 -> Germany emits 440 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour generated.
342.21 -> Due to the fact that 20-25% of Germany’s power comes from environmentally disastrous
348.68 -> coal.
349.68 -> With a further 10-15% coming from gas.
352.65 -> With the remaining power coming from wind, solar and biomass.
357.2 -> While Germany does receive a large percentage of its power from renewables, without adequate
362.16 -> energy storage or a nuclear base load, the country has become extremely dependent on
367.43 -> fossil fuels.
369.25 -> This dependance became all the more apparent as natural gas imports from Russia were cut
373.93 -> off, causing electricity prices to skyrocket across Europe.
378.94 -> This feels like a blatant own goal.
381.039 -> A 10 fold increase in carbon emissions.
383.78 -> German’s aren’t ignorant of the damage coal is having on their environment either.
389.44 -> Expansions of coal mines have been protested too, and the Green Party of Germany has been
393.539 -> under fire for its vote of approval for an expansion of an open pit mine.
398.38 -> If there has ever been an icon of industry driven climate change it has to be the colossal
403.169 -> bucket excavators that roam this mine.
405.729 -> [2] The German government has expressed a desire to phase out coal power soon, but their
411.289 -> only realistic option to do that currently is to import even more natural gas.
417.389 -> One thing needs to be acknowledged in this debate.
419.8 -> Both sides of this argument ultimately want the same end goal.
424.17 -> Clean, safe sustainable energy.
426.12 -> We are on the same team.
428.18 -> The disagreement is on what is considered clean and safe.
431.81 -> This exact argument went to the European Parliament in 2022, where France fought for EU legislation
438.199 -> to label Nuclear Energy and Natural Gas to be labeled green.
442.72 -> That second part will sound strange, but natural gas does play a vital role in expanding renewables
448.319 -> in the absence of suitable energy storage.
451.569 -> That subject needs an entire video to itself to explain.
455.27 -> This legislation divided the European Union, with 328 votes for and 278 against.
462.65 -> The success of the legislation angered many, with politicians labeling it as “an odious
468.24 -> greenwashing attempt with Macron (the French President) as conductor” [3]
471.74 -> Clearly this is a divisive issue, and GreenPeace is currently trying to sue the EU over it,
477.159 -> but this legislation paves the way for more countries to emulate what France has done
482.86 -> and invest more money into nuclear energy while meeting EU mandated sustainable energy
488.599 -> targets.
489.599 -> [4].
490.599 -> France, on the surface, feels like the gold standard of climate policy.
494.41 -> [5] But, let’s take a deeper look at how this came to be, and the challenges France
499.97 -> is facing in maintaining this energy policy.
501.979 -> For that we need to rewind 50 years.
507.83 -> It’s 1973.
511.61 -> Egyptian and Syrian forces have launched a surprise attack on Israel on the Jewish holiday
517.87 -> of Yom Kippur in an attempt to recapture land on the Sinai peninsula, taken from Egypt in
525.51 -> 1967 during the Six Day War.
527.44 -> Western allies of Israel rushed to support their counter offensives, and in retaliation
531.92 -> the union of Arab oil exporters embargoed exports to these countries, causing oil prices
537.74 -> worldwide to skyrocket.
539.99 -> Despite France not being a target of these embargoes, it was a wakeup call for the powerful
545.019 -> country.
546.019 -> With few energy resources of its own, its economy was extremely vulnerable to outside
550.709 -> manipulation.
552.209 -> Nuclear Energy was the answer, and from 1974 onwards nuclear energy capacity rapidly grew.
558.25 -> cutscene of nuclear power plants coming online and capacity rising.
559.65 -> [6]
560.65 -> Over the course of these 23 years France increased its nuclear capacity at an impressive rate
565 -> building 56 reactors in 19 different locations.
569.14 -> However, new builds stopped abruptly in the wake of Chernobyl, with only two new reactors
574.66 -> beginning construction in the aftermath of this disaster.
578.41 -> Civaux 1 and 2, taking 8 and 9 years to complete.
583.04 -> They came online in 1997 and 1999.
586.87 -> These are the youngest nuclear power plants in France.
589.47 -> 24 and 26 years old.
592.57 -> The oldest nuclear power plant currently is the Bugey 2 reactor.
596.42 -> Brought online in 1978, it is now 45 years old.
601.2 -> Its older sibling, Bugey 1 began operation in 1972, and was decommissioned in 1994.
607.6 -> It was an obsolete design, graphite moderated and cooled with carbon dioxide.
612.71 -> It needed to be decommissioned for safety reasons.
616.46 -> Nuclear power plants typically have a life expectancy between 20 and 40 years, which
621.93 -> poses a problem to the French national grid, and the European grid at large,
626.93 -> I listed every nuclear power reactor in France on this excel sheet, and was honestly shocked
633.22 -> when I hit the averaging function.
635.389 -> The average age of nuclear reactors in France is now 39 years old, and these aging reactors
641.43 -> are beginning to cause some major headaches.
644.04 -> In 2022, in the midst of an energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,
650.54 -> France’s energy utility provider, the EDF, was ordered by the country's nuclear watchdog
656.18 -> to inspect all plants after a 23 millimeter deep crack was found in a 27 mm thick cooling
663.5 -> pipe which circulates low level radioactive cooling water to the reactor.[7]The cracks
669.06 -> formed as a result of thermal fatigue in a weld seam, where heating and cooling cycles
674.2 -> caused the pipe to expand and contract.
676.98 -> This crack could have ruptured the pipe at any moment, and its presence raised alarm
681.51 -> bells for the state of nuclear energy in the country, and subsequent cracks were found
686.94 -> at other reactors.
688.91 -> In the aftermath of these discoveries nuclear energy output for the country fell to a 34
694.73 -> year low while these plants were taken offline for inspection and repairs.
699.76 -> This problem was a result of decades of under investment and mismanagement of nuclear energy
705.66 -> in France, and to make matters worse, the technical skills needed to fix the issue have
710.83 -> faded from existence in France as a result of the 30 year gap in nuclear energy investments
716.959 -> and construction.
718.62 -> France is now rushing to invest and support welding schools to bring back this important
723.69 -> skill.
724.69 -> [8] And they need it desperately.
726.67 -> Now, just as the Yom Kippur war woke France up to its energy situation, the war in Ukraine
732.44 -> and these power outages are encouraging political movement.
736.649 -> France has begun a frantic reinvestment cycle into nuclear energy.
740.69 -> Just a few days after narrowly escaping an ousting from Government through an unsuccessful
745.589 -> no-confidence vote, a new nuclear energy investment plan won a landslide victory.
751.56 -> Gaining bipartisan support, the plan will see 56 billion dollars be poured into building
757.23 -> 6 next generation EPR2 nuclear reactors.
761.149 -> [9]
762.149 -> The first generation EPR began construction in north western France in 2007.
767.49 -> Over 16 years ago.
769.339 -> When the average age of French nuclear reactors was just 21 years old.
774.09 -> It still hasn’t delivered any power, and is nearly 5 times over budget at 13.2 billion
781.381 -> dollars.
782.381 -> A far cry from the 3 billion dollars and 8 year construction time originally quoted.
787.94 -> [10]
788.94 -> The second generation design has been specifically redesigned to address these cost and construction
793.97 -> issues.
794.97 -> The design challenge of making these nuclear reactors safe, with all the knowledge we have
799.07 -> gained from accidents over the years, is immense.
802.8 -> This is not an isolated incident.
805.85 -> This study states that out of 180 nuclear construction projects, 175 of them overran
813.339 -> cost estimations.
815.029 -> Costing on average 117 percent more than estimated, and taking 64 percent more time than projected.
822.449 -> [11]
823.449 -> The latest delay of this new reactor was due to simple welding issues again.
828.639 -> When even your welds require specialized heat treatments, requiring specialized skilled
833.72 -> laborers, and stringent safety checks, it’s going to cause headaches.
838.17 -> The reality is, Nuclear Energy keeps getting more expensive as new safety standards are
843.76 -> realized with each accident that occurs.
847.1 -> While renewable energy keeps getting cheaper.
849.97 -> The first of the six next generation EPR2 reactors will not begin construction until
855.08 -> May 2027.
856.26 -> Optimistically, they will take about 8 years to construct at which point the average age
862.009 -> of nuclear reactors in France will be 49 years old.
867 -> Aging nuclear reactors, to say the least, are not ideal.
871.19 -> Posing major reliability issues as we have already seen, but a potentially disastrous
876.73 -> safety hazard too.
878.86 -> France is staring down the barrel of major electrical grid instabilities due to decades
884.079 -> of under investment in nuclear energy.
887.279 -> Nuclear energy, when done right, is clearly the best solution to reduce carbon dioxide
892.19 -> emissions that we have right now, but the problem is, it frequently isn’t done right.
898 -> So, we have to ask ourselves.
900.37 -> Does Germany have a point?
901.85 -> Were they right to close these nuclear reactors down?
904.97 -> Or perhaps a middle ground between France and Germany was needed.
908.89 -> Slowly ramping down nuclear energy while developing new renewable energy resources with the energy
915.06 -> storage needed to create a stable grid
918.389 -> Or perhaps we need to acknowledge the fact that nuclear energy as it stands is not viable
923.61 -> long term, and we need to invest in future technologies that make it safer, cleaner and
929.449 -> cheaper.
930.449 -> The reactor still under construction in France, as it stands, has a cost of 8 million dollars
935.959 -> per Megawatt.
937.509 -> While wind turbines cost between 1 and 2 million dollars per megawatt, and critically, they
942.65 -> can be installed gradually without having to commit billions to a single project.
947.88 -> In a sense, wind turbines are modular.
950.33 -> Smaller, cheaper, easy to replace.
953.399 -> One future tech being worked on right now aims to give nuclear energy this same advantage.
959.279 -> Small modular nuclear reactors aim to make smaller reactors that generate less power,
963.899 -> but can have additional modules added over time to increase capacity.
968.64 -> Reducing initial capital investment, making it easier to replace aging modules, and allowing
973.97 -> the reactors to be placed in locations not suitable for larger traditional power plants.
979.649 -> There are several companies working on these designs now, and in the next episode of Real
984.709 -> Engineering we deep dive into these technologies.
988.8 -> Until then you may want to get ahead of the game.
991.779 -> I get asked by engineering students pretty frequently if I have any advice for how to
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997.699 -> And I only really have two bits of advice that I think is applicable to every person.
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1014.1 -> Students get a huge amount of time off in the summer and most, including myself, wasted
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Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF9kkB0UWYQ