[NukeNet] Heat Wave Shows Limits Of Nuclear Energy

[Bill Smirnow]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Xanthe Hall" <xanthe at ippnw.de>
To: "Abolition Caucus List Serve"
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Cc: "Ulla Klötzer" <ullaklotzer at yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 4:05 AM
Subject: [abolition-caucus] Heat wave shows limits
of nuclear energy

  ENVIRONMENT:
Heat Wave Shows Limits of Nuclear Energy

Julio Godoy


PARIS, Jul 27 (IPS) - 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." (FIN/2006)