What is happening in Japan right now is truly terrible … The disaster within the disaster – the threat of nuclear contamination – is particularly tragic. The Japanese have always insisted especially strongly that nuclear power is controllable. I once had the opportunity to operate an experimental reactor myself and very quickly realised that nuclear energy is not exactly suitable for home use – or at least not for me. The reactor at Furtwangen University immediately went critical. A video report of that visit is on YouTube and at the end of this post.
I am wondering what consequences the presumed worst-case nuclear accident in Japan could have in Germany – for example for the debate about extending nuclear power plant lifetimes or for the election in Baden-Württemberg … We will probably soon hear that something like this could not happen in Germany because such severe earthquakes are not expected here. But the Japanese always said their nuclear facilities were earthquake-proof as well. And now, so to speak, the situation has really blown up …
It is a shame that Germany did not manage to stick to the nuclear phase-out. There are still too many people who are tempted by the advantages of nuclear power. In Germany we should be glad that there is a strong anti-nuclear lobby. Other countries appear to think very differently. Until the major explosion at Fukushima 1, foreign media paid hardly any attention to the critical situation in the reactors. Germans seem more sensitive to the issue, and the media therefore reported on it much earlier. The background is discussed extensively on the Fakten-Fiktionen blog.
As I said, I am curious to see what impact this accident will have on the debate about the future of nuclear power in Germany. As promised, here is the report from my visit to the experimental reactor at Furtwangen University. I wonder whether it is still operating … BTW: the reactor is started at around the two-minute mark.
