The secret Habeck files: How the German government deceived the country about the nuclear phase-out

[NNadir]

The secret Habeck files: How the German government deceived the country about the nuclear phase-out

The article is a translation from the original German, which is here: Die geheimen Habeck-Akten: Wie die Bundesregierung das Land über den Atom-Ausstieg täuschte

Excerpts From the English Version:

They should remain secret forever and never see the light of day: Secret files from Robert Habeck's ministry now show how systematic deception was carried out in two green-led ministries in order to prevent the continued operation of nuclear power plants. Sometimes the assessment of the ministry's own experts was intentionally reversed in order to deliberately misinform the public.

This action should be covered up. And right in the middle are the ministers Robert Habeck and Steffi Lemke. Everything for the big goal: the final end of nuclear power. The green founding myth should finally come true...

...Staging a gigantic deception
These are the days after Putin's attack on Ukraine, at the end of February 2022. Germany is in shock, concerns are quickly spreading about what the war and dependence on Russian gas could mean for electricity and heat supplies. The three remaining nuclear power plants, which were supposed to be shut down forever on December 31 of the same year, are becoming the focus of the debate.

Essentially, it was about two questions: Is it safe and does it make economic and energy policy sense to operate the power plants for longer?...

The focus was on the question of whether Germany has enough gas to heat in winter and to produce enough electricity in hours and days with little sun and wind. Habeck's experts come to the conclusion: “An extension of the operational life of the nuclear power plants until March 31st. can help defuse this situation...”

...What's more, they rate it as "extremely risky" to rely solely on coal-fired power plants, which Habeck brought back online: Literally it says: "In addition, it is extremely risky to rely solely on additional electricity generation from natural gas next winter “To support reserves and coal-fired power plants that have already been shut down.”

Habeck's experts also clearly answered the question about the price of electricity: “Since nuclear energy is at the lower end of the merit order with very low variable costs, its use pushes more expensive marginal power plants out of the merit order. Since the residual load is particularly high in January and February, it is to be expected that nuclear energy will often displace gas-fired power plants. This could cause electricity prices to fall in many hours...”

Authors at the University of California at Santa Barbara and Carnegie Mellon estimate that the cost of the German Nuclear Phase Out is about 12 Billion Dollars per year, 70% of which results from medical costs and 1100 deaths per year:

Estimating the cost of Germany’s nuclear phaseout

Key Findings:

We estimate that the annual cost of the phase-out to German producers and consumers is $12 billion, 70% of which is from increased mortality risk from stronger air pollution from burning of fossil fuels. This is substantially greater than even the most generous estimates of the costs of nuclear accident risk and waste disposal. The phase-out resulted in more than 1,100 additional deaths per year from increased concentrations of SO2, NOx, and particulate matter, with the increase in production from hard coal plants making up roughly 80% of the increase in mortality impacts.

The full paper is available on line:

THE PRIVATE AND EXTERNAL COSTS OF GERMANY'S NUCLEAR PHASE-OUT

The German so called "Greens" are pushing for fossil fuels and climate change and are willing to lie and kill to do so. It is a disgrace.

[sl8]

1. "German ministers quizzed over nuclear phase out 'deception'"

https://www.dw.com/en/german-ministers-quizzed-over-nuclear-phase-out-deception/a-68931166

POLITICS GERMANY

German ministers quizzed over nuclear phase out 'deception'

April 26, 2024

A political magazine alleged that the Economy Ministry hid expert advice supporting the extension of Germany's remaining nuclear power plants. Two ministers defended their decision to a parliamentary committee.

Two German ministers on Friday defended their handling of the extension of Germany's three remaining nuclear power stations during the 2022-23 energy crisis, after a media report alleged the process was bungled.

Cicero magazine reported a day earlier that officials from the environmentally friendly Green Party had acted in a "deceptive" manner by ignoring expert advice and seeking to proceed with the phase-out of nuclear energy, which had been planned since 2011.

[...]

Cicero alleged that experts paid by the ministries, who had argued that the nuclear facilities were still safe to operate, were ignored and that sometimes their assessments were deliberately falsified.

[...]

[NNadir]

2. Still, the media calls the so called German "Green" party, "environmentally friendly."

They are anything but "environmentally friendly." They use their paranoia, ignorance, and poor educations to drive climate change and kill people.

They are "anti-environment," as are all anti-nukes.