[NukeNet] Heat Wave Shows Limits of Nuclear Energy

[MJ]

As we have read, this is also happening here in the US.  MoJo

Heat Wave Shows Limits of Nuclear Energy: 
 
Inter Press Service News Agency, by Julio Godoy, July 27, 2006 
 
<http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=34121> 
 
The extreme hot summer in Europe is restricting nuclear energy generation 
and showing up the limits of nuclear power, leading environmental 
activists and scientists say. 
 
The heat wave since mid-June has led authorities in France, Germany, Spain

and elsewhere in Europe to override their own environmental norms on the 
maximum temperature of water drained from the plants' cooling systems. 
 
The French government announced Jul. 24 that nuclear power plants situated

along rivers will be allowed to drain hot water into rivers at higher 
temperature. The measure is intended "to guarantee the provision of 
electricity for the country," according to an official note. 
 
France has 58 nuclear power plants, which produce almost 80 percent of 
electricity generated in the country. Of these, 37 are situated near 
rivers, and use them as outlet for water from their cooling systems. 
 
The drought accompanying the hot summer has reduced the volume of water in

the rivers, and might force some power plants to shut down. 
 
Under normal circumstances, environment rules limit the maximum 
temperature for waste water in order to protect river flora and fauna. 
 
"For many years now, French authorities have defended nuclear power 
arguing that it is clean energy, good for the environment, and that it 
will help combat global warming, for it does not emit greenhouse gases," 
Stephane Lhomme, coordinator of the environmental network Sortir du 
Nucléaire (Phase Out Nuclear Power) told IPS. 
 
"Now, with global warming leading to extreme hot summers, we are 
witnessing that it is the other way round," Lhomme said. "Global warming 
is showing the limits of nuclear power plants, and nuclear power is 
destroying our environment." 
 
During the hot summer of 2003, French authorities had allowed nuclear 
power plants to drain excessively hot water into rivers, leading to 
considerable damage to flora and fauna, Lhomme said. 
 
According to the minutes of the National Surveillance Committee on water 
drained from reactors Aug. 21 and Sep. 3 2003, "hot water temperatures 
might have led to high concentrations of ammoniac, which is potentially 
toxic for the rivers' fauna." 
 
The minutes point to a European norm on the concentration of ammoniac in 
rivers, which France did not respect. 
 
Meanwhile France is importing some 2000 megawatts of power per day from 
neighbouring countries to compensate for shortages in production at 
nuclear power plants. 
 
While the French authorities have overridden their own environmental 
norms, in Germany energy providers have slowed down some nuclear reactors 
to limit waste water temperature and to protect flora and fauna. 
 
Reactors Kruemmel, Brunsbuettel and Brokdorf situated along the river Elbe

which flows through Eastern and Northern Germany have all been slowed 
down. So have traditional fossil fuel power plants situated along the 
river Rhine. 
 
The nuclear reactors Isar 1 near Munich, and Neckarwestheim near Stuttgart

have being authorised to drain hotter water into the nearby rivers than 
normally allowed. 
 
In Spain, the nuclear power plant at Santa Maria de Garoña, one of eight 
Spanish reactors, was shut down last weekend due to the high temperatures 
recorded in the river Ebro, into which the reactor drains the water used 
in its cooling system. 
 
The power plant, Spain's oldest, provides 20 percent of the electricity 
generated in the country. 
 
German energy expert Hermann Scheer says the situation shows a need for 
radical change in policy. "We must massively invest in renewable energy 
sources, and get rid of nuclear power as soon as possible," he told IPS. 
 
Scheer is president of Eurosolar, the European association for renewable 
energy resources, and winner of the 'Alternative Nobel prize' for his 
commitment to the environment. 
 
In France, nuclear scientist Hubert Reeves urged the government to "invest

massively" in renewable energy resources. "We are behind many of our 
European partners such as Germany, Denmark and Spain in this matter, and 
cannot wait until the energy crisis reaches its climax to find an 
alternative to our present model," he told IPS. 
 
A crisis, he said, "is round the corner." Fossil energy sources are about 
to be exhausted, and "nuclear technology will not solve present problems 
within a reasonable period of time.we should abandon nuclear power and 
invest in alternative sources." 
 
 


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"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace."
Bush, June 18, 2002 

"War is Peace"
Big Brother in George Orwell's 1984

Molly Johnson 
6290 Hawk Ridge Place
San Miguel, CA  93451
Cell: 805 296-0524

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