Or rather:
The debate about the nuclear phase-out
is the wrong discussion at the wrong time
1.) This is a Wikipedia map of the European electricity interconnection system:
Wikipedia: European interconnected system
Germany is part of the dark blue colored area (Continental Europe (UCTE).
In Germany there is a federal state called “Bavaria” (where people like to laugh about the rest of the world) – and somewhere in this federal state, which unfairly has not been shown separately on this map of Europe, there is now the nuclear power plant Isar 2, which we have been forced to discuss publicly in large format for weeks now. OK no, actually the German debate about the nuclear phase-out in 2022 is not a discussion in that sense, but something else, something cheekily different… But if you now take a closer look at the Europe-wide interconnected grid on this Europe-wide map, then you may come to the realization that the discussion so strenuously pursued by Merz, Söder and Kontron is simply breathing the dirt-air away from many other and much more important and necessary discussions.
And that seems to me at least here to be the real main problem… – because in the European scale the remaining German nuclear power plants hardly play a role. Or at least not the one that the current and strenuously conducted debate would like us to believe. In other words: We have just SIMPLY OTHER PROBLEMS here.
2) War
I feel almost silly myself now, if I have to write out loud the obvious, but we are now (at least) in an economic war with Russia. And Russia has not only invaded Ukraine, but also Europe at the same time…
Now this military operation was obviously planned and prepared for a long time. For example, China started to stockpile grain a year before the Ukraine war. In this sense, I think it is absolutely necessary to FINALLY WAKE UP here in prosperity spoiled, self-righteous and unbearably arrogant Germany.
The capping of the gas supply has (as we can see just everywhere) enormous effects on almost all areas of social, economic and political life. And in some circumstances, that is exactly THE INTENT.
So. And if we now want to or should think about the nuclear power plants in Europe on such an (existential) ‘military’ level, then we absolutely must also talk about the security risk that comes from these things.
And I’m not even talking about the rather obvious (military) risks (i.e. terrorist attack, airplane as weapon, etc. etc.)…
There is for example a French series called “The Collapse” (Prime, Joyn, Apple TV). In epidsode 5 (“The Nuclear Power Plant” – 45 days after the societal collapse) people stand in a long line in front of a French nuclear power plant to transport water from the river to the nuclear reactor with buckets, obviously to cool the thing.
I would love to get the discussion going here about HOW SAFE the NPPs actually are in the event of a BlackOut and the interruption of power for cooling and operation. And “There then the emergency power aggregates jump on, everything no problem”, that is NOT enough for me personally in view of the conceivable consequences to calm down.
3) Disintegration of the dollar
From my perspective, after the last world war, three different zones have formed worldwide:
1 Russia (raw materials)
2 China (workbench)
3 ‘The West’ (the USA) (patents, stock exchanges, Ipad, dollar as world reserve currency, petro-dollar, biggest military power).
We in the West consume what is produced in China with raw materials from Russia.
And we give in this barter trade to the Russians and the Chinese for it printed paper bills (dollars, euros).
These were increased exponentially in the last years by the FED and the ECB.
4) Inflation
Now the FED has raised the interest rate a little, and the ECB wants to do the same, but:
To stop inflation of almost 8% interest rates would have to be raised by 9%.
This spiral has now started.
If the Russians don’t want to supply raw materials for our Euros anymore, then WE HAVE A PROBLEM HERE.
AND THIS ALSO CONCERNS URANIUM FUEL RODS FROM RUSSIA.
5) Refugee problem
Since the loud climate change denials (of the usual suspects) have died down a bit in the meantime,
I assume that I can save these debates here, I think it is already foreseeable in the near future,
that due to the consequences of climate change (drought) there will be refugee movements worldwide.
6) Food shortage
The issue of food scarcity is also related to this, and this problem will be
come to us soon (fertilizer shortage, drought, inflation).