Nuclear power producers bribe governments

Diet Simon 09.01.2007 17:37 Themen: Atom Globalisierung
One of Germany’s “Big Four” power companies is offering to bribe a cash-strapped regional government for permission to keep running a nuclear power station longer than allowed under a national pact, and there are suggestions that the other three may follow suit.
According to the pact, reached between the previous national government of Social Democrats and Greens, the Neckarwestheim 1 station north of Stuttgart is to be switched off in 2008.

Its owner, EnBW based in Karlsruhe, has asked for an extension, the second of the Big Four to do so.

Neckarwestheim 1 has been operating for 30 years and is one of the nukes most vulnerable to accidents. As the only German pressurised water reactor Neckarwestheim 1 has only three instead of the usual four cooling circuits, making it more vulnerable to operational mishaps.

It is not secure against impact by a heavy aircraft, and earthquakes and underground cavities pose special dangers. Nuclear opponents accuse EnBW of repeatedly being an unreliable operator of nuclear power plants.

Under the pact all nuclear power production is to end in Germany in 2021. The Christian Democrats (conservatives), senior partner in the present government with Social Democrats, are trying to undo that pact.

The Christian Democrat premier of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Günther Oettinger, has told the news magazine “Focus” of pledges by the power companies to share their profits with governments if the nukes can run longer.

According to his statements, not switching nukes off as provided by the law based on the pact, could flush double digit millions into state coffers.

Oettinger accordingly expects such sums from “each of the big energy suppliers which like EnBW generate a large proportion of their power atomically”. The companies would have to share with the state their profits from the longer operating period, he said.

The premier is quoted as saying that EnBW is willing to make the deal with his government. "I have such outcomes of talks to hand.” Oettinger said the power producer “might even be willing to make available half of the verifiable profits for public purposes”. Those funds would be spent mainly to develop renewable energies.

Critics said: “Anyone offering the cash-strapped state a share of profits to interfere with legally regulated running times is bribing, and nothing else. And a premier who even praises this intention publicly is declaring the capitulation of the state to the wealthy power companies.

"Günther Oettinger has already outed himself as corruptible. How will other politicians respond to this immoral offer? We need to watch them closely from now on.”

Essen-based transnational, RWE, has also applied for more operating time for one of its oldest nuclear power stations, Biblis A, situated in central Germany 21 km (13 mi) north of Mannheim and 50 km (31 mi) south of Frankfurt, both densely populated major cities. Used since 1975, Biblis A is the nuke with the most breakdowns and other incidents in Germany. It’s scheduled for closure next month.

Rejecting the extension, a senior Social Democrat in parliament, Ulrich Kelber, argues that the only reason RWE want to keep Biblis A operating is that it’s returning more than a million euros a day profit because of inflated power prices in Germany.

RWE is the fourth largest power generator across Europe and one of Germany's biggest companies. It has operations in Europe, America, Asia, Australia and Africa. (For a map of German nukes see  http://www.insc.anl.gov/pwrmaps/map/germany.php.)

Citing the closure of Russia’s main oil pipeline to the west, Christian Democrat chancellor, Angela Merkel, has again called the shutdown of nuclear power production into question.

“One has to consider the consequences of our shutting down nuclear power stations,” she told a major broadcaster. The opposition Liberals also wants the pact reconsidered.

In the years immediately ahead closures are due of the old nukes Biblis A (this year) and Biblis B (2009), Neckarwestheim 1 (2008) and Brunsbüttel (2009). The pact allows power production contingents to be transferred from newer to older stations, subject to approval by the environment minister, who in this case is a Social Democrat publicly professing loyalty to the pact.

But critics say Sigmar Gabriel is merely mealy-mouthing the right words and has in reality caved in to the conservatives.

Opponents are calling on power consumers to stop buying from the nuclear producers and switch to non-nuclear suppliers. That call does not appear to be making a big impact.
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Ergänzungen

Solar, not nuclear

Gerry Wolff 09.01.2007 - 23:14
Regarding your report about German nuclear power producers bribing government for longer operation, it is not only in Europe that nuclear power would be the wrong choice. In many parts of the world, including the US and Australia, there is a simple mature technology available that can deliver huge amounts of clean energy without any of the headaches of nuclear power.

I refer to 'concentrating solar power' (CSP), the technique of concentrating sunlight using mirrors to create heat, and then using the heat to raise steam and drive turbines and generators, just like a conventional power station. It is possible to store solar heat in melted salts so that electricity generation may continue through the night or on cloudy days. This technology has been generating electricity successfully in California since 1985 and half a million Californians currently get their electricity from this source. CSP plants are now being planned or built in many parts of the world.

CSP works best in hot deserts and, of course, these are not always nearby! But it is feasible and economic to transmit solar electricity over very long distances using highly-efficient 'HVDC' transmission lines. With transmission losses at about 3% per 1000 km, solar electricity may be transmitted, for example, from the Australian desert to anywhere in Australia.

In the recent 'TRANS-CSP' report commissioned by the German government, it is estimated that CSP electricity, imported from North Africa and the Middle East, could become one of the cheapest sources of electricity in Europe, including the cost of transmission. A large-scale HVDC transmission grid has also been proposed by Airtricity as a means of optimising the use of wind power throughout Europe.

Further information about CSP may be found at  http://www.trec-uk.org.uk and  http://www.trecers.net. Copies of the TRANS-CSP report may be downloaded from  http://www.trec-uk.org.uk/reports.htm. The many problems associated with nuclear power are summarised at  http://www.mng.org.uk/green_house/no_nukes.htm.

www.trec-uk.org.uk/index.htm