[sentinel]

I've been following this story a bit and here's what I've noticed:

1. The causes seem to vary depending on who you ask. There seems to be a combination of CO2 taxes going up, a hard winter last year that diminished the strategic reserves, incompetent (corrupt?) gov't institutions that didn't replenish them in summer this year, combined with a general trend of relying more on gas and less on coal (and nuclear to some extent).

2. The EU came down with a heavy hand on coal producing countries... which does make sense, climate change is an issue. However, this is going to disproportionately hit the poorer countries in the block, those that still relied on antiquated coal burning power plants. Germany has Nord Stream + some investment in renewables, so they don't care much, France is mostly nuclear, so again, they don't care, Italy and Spain are warmer countries that could get fine through winter. Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia etc. where coal plants were closed will be hit the worst by this.

3. The EU doesn't negotiate as a block on gas prices. Each country deals with Russia individually – e.g. Nord Stream being built between Germany and Russia. That also means that the smaller countries are at the biggest disadvantage, or are reliant on either Germany's or Russia's benevolence in dictating gas prices.

[Daniel_sk]

2) Slovakia will be launching 2 new reactor blocks (Mochovce 3 and 4), one by end of year and next one within 2 years. Even the existing two blocks create 84% of our energy and with the next two we will become energy independent. Adding those two blocks equals about 2 milion personal car emission "saved" compared to having same amount produced by coal power plants. And that's just one power plant for whole country of 5.5 million. Fortunately we didn't go the German route and we also get a lot of pressure from Austria to shut down our power plant (even though it passed all strict checks and is a very safe design). Last coal mine will be closed in 2027, but most of them already sooner.

[qayxc]

> Fortunately we didn't go the German route

You're missing the fact that all German nuclear power plants are already beyond their initial lifespan and that there simply has been no renewal of operation licenses.

No new reactors have been built since the mid-1980s so this isn't exactly a recent trend. The same applies to France, btw. The newest reactor in France started construction in 2007(!) and is expected to become operational in 2023(!).

The next newest French reactor started construction in 1991...

So much for the state of nuclear power in the world's posterchild of nuclear power.

[chelical]

And yet France still has half the CO2 emissions per capita of Germany and significantly cheaper energy.

[qayxc]

The electricity costs are >90% taxes, though and Germany's industrial output is also significantly higher than France's.

Per capita calculations are therefore flawed from the very start and not a useful metric.

Looking at actual data reveals a clear trend: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/a1i2y40rtyg7s3p/AAAjxiD5DhvWmcyK2...

France's electricity production from nuclear shrinks similarly year-on-year to Germany's reduction in electricity production from coal.

Also no new reactors have been built in France in over a decade. Make of that what you will.

[empiricus]

it seems that we become too dumb to build nuclear stations. this is worrying

[pyrale]

More like anti-nuclear groups are extremely effective at FUD, and don't fear lying to people. They have literally used every dirty trick in the book to kill commercial nuclear policies. For instance, a large majority of french people believe that nuclear contributes to global warming [1].

Of course, if you freeze an industry for 20 years, there is going to be some loss of knowledge and know-how.

[1]: https://www.bva-group.com/sondages/francais-nucleaire-sondag...

[Lammy]

> They have literally used every dirty trick in the book to kill commercial nuclear policies.

https://tmi2kml.inl.gov/Documents/2a-Kemeny/Presidents%20Com...

"Deliberate valve mispositioning cannot be confirmed or completely dismissed. In regard to the last point, the Commission chairman requested that the FBI reexamine this possibility. The FBI response indicates that they have not found sufficient grounds for further investigation. SUMMARY: The findings from this analysis are as follows: There has been no positive identification of an explanation for the valves being in the closed position."

The really sad part about the TMI accident is that the entire thing could have been avoided if TMI had modified its cooling system with the lessons learned from a literally-identical series of events that happened two years earlier at an also-identical Babcock&Wilcox BWR in Ohio. Davis-Besse was luckily operating at 9% power instead of at 100% like TMI in Pennsylvania in 1979: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1920/ML19208C067.pdf#page=4

"On September 24, 1977, Davis Besse Nuclear Power Station Unit No. 1 experienced a depressurization when a pressurizer power relief valve failed in the open position. The Reactor Coolant System (RCS) pressure was reduced from 2255 psig to 875 psig in approximately twenty-one (21) minutes. At the beginning of this event, steam was being bypassed to the condenser and the reactor thermal power was at 263 MW, or 9.5%. Electricity was not being generated. The following systems malfunctioned during the transient:

a. Steam and Feedwater Rupture Control System (SFRCS).

b. Pressurizer Pilot Actuated Relief Valve.

c. No. 2 Steam Generator Auxiliary Feed Pump Turbine Governor"

"At approximately 21 minutes into the transient, the operators discovered that the pressurizer power relief valve was stuck open. Blowdown via this valve was stopped by closing the block valve, thus terminating the reactor vessel depressurization. The RCS pressure recovered to normal and cooldown of the system followed."

"The reason for the spurious 'half-trip' of the SFRCS has not yet been determined. An extensive investigation revealed several loose connections at terminal boards, but nothing conclusive. Investigation into the failure of the pressurizer pilot actuated relief valve revealed that a 'close' relay was missing from the control circuit. This missing relay would normally provide a 'seal-in' circuit which would hold the valve open until the pressure dropped to 2205 psig. Without the relay the power relief valve cycled open and closed each time the pressure of the RCS went above or below 2255 psig. The rapid cycling of the valve caused a failure of the pilot valve stem, and this failure caused the power relief valve to remain open."

Some engineers-turned-Hollywood-consultants even went public trying to warn us about these problems in the industry. At least we got an actually really good movie out of it which in a singularity of the universe's ultimate irony came out two weeks before the TMI accident and actually contains a line that says "an area the size of Pennsylvania" could be left radioactive and uninhabitable. I have it on LaserDisc and it's one of my favs :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GE_Three https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nemYBeT4aQY

[johnchristopher]

When did Slovakia begin to build those reactors ? Trying to compare with Belgium.

Who is building them and for how long are there planned to run ? How much did it cost ?

[angelzen]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochovce_Nuclear_Power_Plant

> power plant consisting of four VVER 440/V-213 pressurized water reactors [Russian]

> Construction of Units 3 and 4 restarted in November 2008. They were planned initially to be completed in 2012 and 2013,[2] but the completion date was shifted to 2016 and 2017.[3] More recently the completion date has slipped to 2020 and 2022.

> [Reactor 1 & 2 have a 60 year commercial lifetime]

https://www.reuters.com/article/slovakia-nuclear/update-1-sl...

> Estimates from 2019 put the cost at nearly 5.7 billion euros ($6.89 billion).

[sentinel]

Thanks for this perspective – I was not aware of this. Definitely a good idea and I'm personally happy to see a resurgence in nuclear as a green solution to the climate issue.

[dx034]

According to Wikipedia, the existing blocks create only 20% of the electricity needed, so this should only go to about 40%?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochovce_Nuclear_Power_Plant

[pornel]

Poland is in a tough spot politically. Dependence on Russia is a touchy topic, but now there's also a rising anti-EU sentiment from the populist-nationalist government. If something is seen as EU/Western middling then Poland will double-down on doing the opposite (in this case rejecting renewables in favor of coal with plans for nuclear), and still blame the EU for it.

[qwytw]

Coal is still the source of 20 to 30% of all energy used in Germany, I doubt they don't care.

[Lammy]

Germany has a lot of coal, so no need to import. That's why it was German chemists who invented both the first chemical process to convert coal to usable liquid gasoline, and to convert CO gas (state of matter) to liquid gasoline:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergius_process

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer%E2%80%93Tropsch_proces...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_liquefaction

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_fuel#History

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_campaign_of_World_War_II

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_to_liquids

Also the reason why France occupied that region of Germany after World War 1, and then hilariously also again after World War 2:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saarland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territory_of_the_Saar_Basin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1935_Saar_status_referendum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saar_Protectorate

[sentinel]

Fair – I suppose my point is that they've set themselves up for an out better than others have.

[Jiejeing]

France is mostly nuclear, but most of the heating is using natural gas (it has gone up more than 30% in price this year alone for consumers).

[llsf]

Do we have data on this? I am surprised that "most of the heating is using natural gas" in France.

In France, my parents last 3 houses (i.e. since 1986) have been all 100% electric. The one from 1986 had a gas stove though, but based on gas bottle. Beside that all electric including the oven and washer/dryer.

[Jiejeing]

It is generally not the case in modern construction or outside cities (because you need "gaz de ville" otherwise it is a real pain, and that is infrastructure). This 2015 document indicates 39% natural gas in heating, and 35% electricity https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/fichier/3280930/Enviro1.... I am currently living in an old city house with gas available for both heating and cooking.

In big cities like Paris I believe it is discouraged even when available due to the risks and housing density.

[llsf]

Awesome! Thanks for digging that document, it is really interesting.

I guess my parents living in suburbs, residential area basically meant to use electricity over gas.

It would be interesting to see if this current shortage, is going to accelerate the transition to electricity. Although retrofitting older building might be very expansive. But if gas price continues to increase like it did in the past few months, it would change the equation for some.

[sytelus]

I read in the news that there is plenty of fuel available but no truck drivers to transport it. UK is offering 3000+ emergency visa for truck drivers. The labor supply for truck drivers suddenly dissapeared but we have no idea why.

[Strom]

> The labor supply for truck drivers suddenly dissapeared but we have no idea why.

Brexit seems like a good guess, and indeed it's what many are pointing to.

Companies also blame Brexit, pointing out that 15,000 European truck drivers left the UK in the last year. [...] Willmotts had a steady supply of drivers from eastern Europe over the last two decades. But last year, that all changed. When the pandemic struck and European trade slowed down, drivers were furloughed. Many went back to their home countries, to be with family. "Since the effects of Brexit, they haven't wanted to come back," explained Mr Gray. "They can earn just as much in Germany, France or Poland, so there's no real need to be in the UK." [1]

More concretely brexit makes the job more tedious. Truck drivers don't want to fill out endless paperwork and sit in a queue at customs, but that's exactly what brexit has generously provided.

--

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-57656327

[lotsofpulp]

The whole goal of Brexit was to allow British people to be able to compete as truckers, and hence truckers now need to get paid as British nationals expect to be paid.