Re: Germany Urges Non-Nuclear Alternative to Chernobyl on Closure

["Tom Savin" <lexicon@hotbot.com>]

 I don't get it! Germany's political mindset makes no sense to me at all. Please someone explain this to me.

1.  Let's grow plants to burn?  Are there no famines?

2.  Is peat moss truly a quickly regenerating source? (Pssst...It takes years to build up a peat bog)

3.  What about the greenhouse effect? (lets warm up the earth so we can turn on our air conditioners)

Sure.... I reluctantly admit that maybe corn stalks
might be a source of methane, but come on now, we are going to run out of fossil fuels, why not delay (nuclear plants) that so we can catch up/invent more efficient energy technologies.  I saw this article and had to cry out.

One last parting shot...What if there is a drought?

                         Thanks for listening.

                           Tom
--

On Tue, 6 Jun 2000 12:02:49    Sandy Perle wrote:
>Germany Urges Non-Nuclear Alternative to Chernobyl on Closure
>  
>Berlin, June 6 (Bloomberg) -- Germany welcomed Ukraine's decision to 
>close down the Chernobyl nuclear plant by the end of this year and 
>urged the Ukrainian government to examine non- nuclear alternatives 
>for its energy supply. 
>
>Germany has organized a donor conference in Berlin on July 5 to raise 
>funds to repair the cement coating poured over a Chernobyl reactor 
>after it exploded 14 years ago in the world's worst ever nuclear 
>accident. The German government has already contributed $50 million 
>to repairs, Environment Minister Juergen Trittin said in a statement. 
>
>Trittin, a member of the ecologically-minded Green Party, called on 
>Ukraine to focus on ``the necessary modernization of the energy 
>sector.'' He drew attention to his ministry's proposal for a biomass 
>combustion plant in the Chernobyl area instead of the new nuclear 
>reactors planned by Ukraine. 
>
>U.S. President Bill Clinton and Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma 
>said yesterday the cleanup of Chernobyl will be completed by Dec. 15 
>and the plant closed permanently before the end of the year. To 
>replace Chernobyl, the European Bank for Reconstruction and 
>Development is considering a $170 million loan, part of $1.7 billion 
>in proposed financing to the two new nuclear plants Ukraine wants to 
>build. 
>
>Germany is negotiating with utilities such as RWE AG and Veba AG on 
>closing down the country's 19 nuclear reactors and opposes the 
>Ukrainian plan to build new ones, holding up European funding for 
>Chernobyl's replacements. 
>
>Decontamination 
>
>Trittin said biomass combustion plants, which produce energy by 
>burning plant matter such as tree trimmings, grass and peat moss, 
>would be both economically viable and help ``decontaminate the still 
>radioactive woods around Chernobyl.'' 
>
>Antje Radcke, chairwoman of the Green Party, the junior party in 
>Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's ruling coalition, called on 
>international lenders and the European Union ``to use the decision to 
>close Chernobyl as an opportunity to help Ukraine build a modern and 
>ecological energy supply.'' 
>
>``Ukraine should use the available funds for highly efficient gas-
>powered turbine plants as a replacement for the clapped-out Chernobyl 
>reactor,'' she proposed.
>
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