The narrative discusses the history and impact of nuclear energy in Germany and France, particularly in relation to the Chernobyl disaster and the Fukushima disaster.
In the 1980s, Germany was a divided nation, still recovering from World War II. The country was divided into two nuclear superpowers, with a map of nuclear power plants indicating their presence. The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 had a significant impact on Europe, causing widespread fear and the distribution of iodine tablets to prevent radioactive iodine from being absorbed by the thyroid gland. This event led to a massive drop in support for nuclear energy worldwide.
In Germany, the anti-nuclear movement began in 1975 with protests against the construction of a new nuclear power plant. This movement was driven by the real danger of nuclear energy and political pressure led to the creation of Germany’s Green Party in 1980. The Chernobyl disaster further strengthened support for the Greens, leading to the phase-out of nuclear energy in Germany by 2002. However, the Fukushima disaster led to a shift in public opinion, with even Angela Merkel, the leader of the opposition party the CDU, expressing opposition to the anti-nuclear movement.
In contrast, France has been a leader in nuclear energy. The country's strategic position in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur war in 1973 led to a rapid increase in nuclear energy capacity from 1974. Despite the Chernobyl disaster, France continued to build new reactors. However, these aging reactors are now causing major headaches, including a recent crack discovered in a cooling pipe. This has led to a fall in nuclear energy output and a need for significant investment and support for welding schools to maintain the necessary skills.
Despite the challenges, France is investing heavily in new next-generation nuclear reactors. However, these projects are running late and over budget. The current reactor under construction is expected to begin construction in May 2027 and take about 8 years to complete. This will increase the average age of nuclear reactors in France to 49 years old.
The narrative concludes by discussing the pros and cons of nuclear energy, suggesting that a middle ground between France and Germany may be needed. This could involve slowly phasing out nuclear energy while developing new renewable energy resources with the necessary energy storage to create a stable grid. Alternatively, future investments could focus on making nuclear energy safer, cleaner, and cheaper. The narrator also recommends learning Python and using the Brilliant platform to brush up on engineering essentials.
1. The text discusses Germany in the 1980s, a time when the country was still divided between the two world superpowers and was heavily reliant on nuclear power plants.
2. The Chernobyl disaster occurred in 1986, resulting in a large spread of radioactive material across Europe. Iodine tablets were distributed as a preventative measure to saturate the thyroid gland in non-radioactive iodine.
3. The Chernobyl disaster was ranked as a 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, indicating a major accident with a large release of radioactive materials.
4. The anti-nuclear movement in Germany started in 1975 with protests against the construction of a new nuclear power plant. By 1979, following the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster in the United States, 200,000 protestors took to the streets.
5. The Green Party was created in Germany in 1980 in response to these protests and the political pressure to phase out nuclear plants.
6. The Chernobyl disaster intensified support for the Green Party's political ideology, leading to the decision in 1998 to phase out nuclear energy completely.
7. A law banning new nuclear energy was passed in 2002, with two nuclear power plants being taken offline prematurely in Germany soon after.
8. Angela Merkel and her opposition party, the CDU, criticized these deactivations as "destruction of national property".
9. In the wake of the Fukushima Disaster, even Merkel's opposition to the anti-nuclear movement began to falter.
10. The final nuclear power plant in Germany was shut down on April 15th, 2023, marking the end of its 50-year war on nuclear energy.
11. Germany's dependence on fossil fuels increased after the shutdown of its nuclear facilities, making it more reliant on fossil fuels than its neighbor France.
12. France, on the other hand, is an energy independent country with a large percentage of its power coming from nuclear energy, wind, solar, and biomass.
13. Germany emits 440 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour generated, primarily due to the use of coal and gas.
14. The German government expressed a desire to phase out coal power soon, but their only realistic option currently is to import more natural gas.
15. The Green Party of Germany has been under fire for its vote of approval for an expansion of an open pit mine.
16. A legislation to label Nuclear Energy and Natural Gas as green was proposed in the European Parliament in 2022, but it was divided, with 328 votes for and 278 against.
17. France, despite its reliance on nuclear energy, is facing challenges in maintaining this energy policy. The country's energy utility provider, the EDF, was ordered to inspect all plants after a 23 millimeter deep crack was found in a 27 mm thick cooling pipe which circulates low level radioactive cooling water to the reactor.
18. The average age of nuclear reactors in France is now 39 years old, which poses a major headache for the French national grid and the European grid at large.
19. France is now rushing to invest and support welding schools to bring back this important skill needed for the maintenance and repairs of nuclear reactors.
20. France has begun a frantic reinvestment cycle into nuclear energy, with a new nuclear energy investment plan gaining bipartisan support. The plan will see 56 billion dollars be poured into building 6 next generation EPR2 nuclear reactors.
21. The first of the six next generation EPR2 reactors will not begin construction until May 2027, and they will take about 8 years to construct.
22. Nuclear Energy keeps getting more expensive as new safety standards are realized with each accident that occurs, while renewable energy keeps getting cheaper.
23. The reactor still under construction in France has a cost of 8 million dollars per Megawatt, while wind turbines cost between 1 and 2 million dollars per megawatt.
24. Small modular nuclear reactors aim to make smaller reactors that generate less power, but can have additional modules added over time to increase capacity.
25. The text suggests that students can use the platform Brilliant to brush up on the