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Hot Weather Cuts French, German Nuclear Power Output

posted by Fnord666 on Saturday July 27 2019, @04:10PM   Printer-friendly
from the sous-vide-rivers dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Scorching temperatures across Europe coupled with prolonged dry weather has reduced French nuclear power generation by around 5.2 gigawatts (GW) or 8%, French power grid operator RTE’s data showed on Thursday.

Electricity output was curtailed at six reactors by 0840 GMT on Thursday, while two other reactors were offline, data showed. High water temperatures and sluggish flows limit the ability to use river water to cool reactors.

In Germany, PreussenElektra, the nuclear unit of utility E.ON, said it would take its Grohnde reactor offline on Friday due to high temperatures in the Weser river.

Interesting impact of the recent heat wave, right when electrical demand is on the rise.

Previously: Records Tumble as Europe Swelters in Heatwave and the Forecast Isn't Any Better

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Monday July 29 2019, @03:12AM (5 children)

    by Coward, Anonymous (7017) on Monday July 29 2019, @03:12AM (#872504) Journal

    Nuclear waste from today will still be dangerous thousands of years from now. Only a crystal ball could tell us what form of energy is safer.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   2  

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday July 29 2019, @03:56PM (4 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 29 2019, @03:56PM (#872691) Journal

    Nuclear waste from today will still be dangerous thousands of years from now.

    Except, of course, if that isn't so. Reprocessing used nuclear rods gets rid of the vast majority of the danger.

    • (Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Monday July 29 2019, @06:31PM (3 children)

      by Coward, Anonymous (7017) on Monday July 29 2019, @06:31PM (#872760) Journal

      And how much reprocessing is done in the US? None. The current situation is that high-level radioactive waste gets stored on site in casks that are designed to last for decades, not millenia. Claims of nuclear safety are wrong if they ignore the nuclear waste problem. It is a big wildcard. Political constraints can be as real as technical ones.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday July 30 2019, @04:06AM (2 children)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 30 2019, @04:06AM (#872999) Journal
        You've already stated they have thousands of years to figure this out. It's not that hard a problem and it doesn't need to be done right this minute.

        • (Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Tuesday July 30 2019, @04:44AM (1 child)

          by Coward, Anonymous (7017) on Tuesday July 30 2019, @04:44AM (#873009) Journal

          So we agree that statements about nuclear safety need to include an asterisk about future deaths from today's waste being unaccounted for. We can add a second asterisk that says khallow is confident that this number will be small.

          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday July 30 2019, @09:56AM

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 30 2019, @09:56AM (#873049) Journal

            So we agree that statements about nuclear safety need to include an asterisk about future deaths from today's waste being unaccounted for.

            Sure. But I'm not going to include attempts to deliberately make nuclear waste dangerous.

            We can add a second asterisk that says khallow is confident that this number will be small.

            And future energy from existing used nuclear rods large.