Nuclear U-turn “not rational”, says German official
Citing minutes taken at an event hosted by industry association BDI, the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the comments by Rainer Bruederle surprised the 40 or so top managers at the meeting.
"The minister... illustrated that with the upcoming state election, pressure was weighing on politics and decisions would not always be rational," the paper quoted the minutes as saying.
Bruederle defended atomic power at the meeting, which was attended by two power company CEOs, Juergen Grossmann from RWE and Johannes Teyssen of E.ON, saying there was no way to avoid its use, especially for energy-intensive industries.
Merkel's party faces tough elections in states where anti-nuclear sentiment is strong.
Following the nuclear crisis in Japan, the moratorium Merkel declared on March 14 — the same day the BDI meeting took place — led to the closing of seven of the country's 17 nuclear plants for at least three months.
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A new nuclear reactor in the U.S. starts up. It's the first in nearly seven years
ATLANTA - For the first time in almost seven years, a new nuclear reactor has started up in the United States.
On Monday, Georgia Power announced that the Vogtle nuclear reactor Unit 3 has started a nuclear reaction inside the reactor.
Technically, this is called “initial criticality.” It’s when the nuclear fission process starts splitting atoms and generating heat, Georgia Power said in a written announcement.
The heat generated in the nuclear reactor causes water to boil. The resulting steam spins a turbine that’s connected to a generator that creates electricity.
Vogtle’s Unit 3 reactor will be fully in service in May or June,…
