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Siemens To Exit Nuclear Power Business

Posted by samzenpus on from the picking-up-my-cooling-rods-and-going-home dept.

jones_supa wrote in with a link about the future of nuclear power in Germany. The story reads: "German industrial giant Siemens is turning the page on nuclear energy, the group's CEO Peter Löscher told the weekly Der Spiegel in an interview published on Sunday. The group's decision to withdraw from the nuclear industry reflects 'the very clear stance taken by Germany's society and political leadership.' Along with abandoning nuclear power, Germany wants to boost the share of the country's power needs generated by renewable energies to 35% by 2020 from 17% at present."

13 of 400 comments (clear)

  1. Lessor of two evils... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This kind of thought is too bad for the Earth, because baring fossil fuels, there is really no other source that can provide the need of our modern society. The actual unblemished truth is that the popular âoerenewableâ sources can not supply but a minority proportion of the worldâ(TM)s needs for energy. The truth is: Itâ(TM)s either coal / oil, or nuclear energy.

    And the sad thing is that today, as in right now, the nuclear technologies have never been safer, so much safer than any of the currently operational nuke plants, and much more relevant to this discussion, much more safe and indeed cleaner than any, ANY, of the alternatives.

    Simply the truth, folks.

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    1. Re:Lessor of two evils... by Arancaytar · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's good that you mention the word "truth" three times, because with your complete lack of sources I would otherwise have worried that your post might be bullshit.

    2. Re:Lessor of two evils... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      but we can never calculate the loss of people who got injured to hand cranks when the technology was new.

      Why are you comparing nuclear energy to a "new" technology? It's been around more than half a century and it's still expensive, filthy and dangerous.

      Siemens is getting out because nuclear energy has never been profitable without government subsidies and perhaps you haven't noticed, but not that many governments have money to burn ever since the corporations took over. Plus, the level 7 Fukushima disaster that forced 80,000 people from their homes and will probably cause the premature deaths of several times that number (see: guardian.co.uk) was not really great advertisement for the failed experiment that was energy from nuclear fission.

      Face it, like the hydrogen dirigible, fission energy is a technology that was almost really good except for the fact that it was really bad. As Maxwell Smart might have said, "It missed it by that much."

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    3. Re:Lessor of two evils... by A+beautiful+mind · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Talking about Fukushima, let's try to be more factual: the expected death toll is less than you'd expect from a major bus accident. So far we know of no deaths related to Fukushima.

      --
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      Be yourself no matter what they say
    4. Re:Lessor of two evils... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well shit CmdrTaco, why not only permit ASCII only in the name field?

      I've got a pretty good reason why not. How about "CmdrTaco doesn't work at slashdot anymore"?

    5. Re:Lessor of two evils... by mwvdlee · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C. Accidentally change page? Return to the page and Ctrl+V.
      Though if you accidentally change pages, your own comment didn't have your attention; why should we give it any attention? ;)

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  2. Russian gas by quenda · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Thats OK, The Germans can rely on their good friends in Russia for a cheap reliable supply of natural gas to fire their power stations for the next century or so while they work on alternatives. What could go wrong?

  3. Greenwash by afabbro · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If they were making money hand over fist, they would not be exiting nuclear power. Because they decided to exit nuclear power, they take the opportunity to make it look like they're concerned about society.

    This is not much different than companies saying "we're going green" and getting rid of postal-mail bills. They're "going green" because it saves them money. If it it was more expensive to send email than paper, you can be certain they would still be sending paper.

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  4. This is Slashdot . . . by Idou · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Such posts will get 5 Insightful just because they support the nuclear industry. It has been a peculiar experience to see just how slanted the community is, especially since I was directly impacted by the Fukushima accident.

    Unfortunate, though. Slashdot is usually a great place to find opinions from those with first hand experience. However, when it comes to nuclear power, it might as well be a site for the nuclear lobby. Those with first hand experience are either too intimidated to post or accused of being liars when they do.

    --
    Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
    1. Re:This is Slashdot . . . by ArsonSmith · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Or just far to few to be of any relevance.

      --
      Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
  5. A step backwards... by Sasayaki · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'll add my voice to the chorus of people supporting nuclear power as the only currently viable solution to meet the growing energy needs of the future. It's just madness at this stage to suggest that any other technology can be:

    A) As environmentally friendly.
    B) As cheap.
    C) As reliable.
    D) As adaptable (goes anywhere in the world).

    --
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    1. Re:A step backwards... by dbIII · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Getting a bit of background information on nuclear power may change your opinion on all four points. B and D in paticular demonstrate that you have a lot to learn about this subject. The major clue for D is that since the point of nuclear is vast amounts of heat you then require vast amounts of cooling - not good or bad it just is how it works. That very strickly limits where you can put nuclear installions.
      Nuclear power is interesting stuff so I suggest you get the enjoyment of learning about it instead of just mindlessly singing it's praises and making silly mistakes in the process.

    2. Re:A step backwards... by inviolet · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'll add my voice to the chorus of people supporting nuclear power as the only currently viable solution to meet the growing energy needs of the future. It's just madness at this stage to suggest that any other technology can be:

      A) As environmentally friendly. B) As cheap. C) As reliable. D) As adaptable (goes anywhere in the world).

      Nuclear power is ridiculously reliable, cheap, and environmentally friendly... in principle.

      In practice, nuclear power plants are built by large groups of humans who are laboring in the presence of perverse incentives. Therefore, a nuclear power plant built by humans will cost about as much as the nearest competitor (natural gas), will be reliable for the time period that the relevant VPs expect to remain at their current post, and will be environmentally friendly in the sense that uranium mining, refining, and disposal are all hand-waved away.

      Don't get me wrong, I am a pro-nuke zealot, and I want nuke plants built no matter what the risk. I am just pointing out that when it comes to this subject, you have forgotten your usual justified level of cynicism about humans.

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