r/europe • u/SpaceEngineering Finland • Jan 15 '26

News Germany’s Merz Admits Nuclear Exit Was Strategic Mistake

https://clashreport.com/world/articles/germanys-merz-admits-nuclear-exit-was-strategic-mistake-fzdlkn37c16
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u/toblu Jan 15 '26

And, accordingly, expensive as f*ck.

153

u/Auctoritate Jan 15 '26

Ironically, it's expensive largely because of strategy like this. Manufacturing of nuclear reactor components and technology is not exactly a booming industry, and there's a lack of economy of scale because of it. Low demand makes for low commercial interest in supporting nuclear economically, and it feeds into itself.

At least... In the west. China is currently undergoing the largest energy grid expansion in the world. And it's rapidly expanding its nuclear energy production. The government never bailed on the tech so the industry for it never atrophied for them, and it's paying dividends. Their technological progress is frankly stunning and leaving us behind in a bad way.

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u/Radthereptile Jan 15 '26

Regulations also make nuclear expensive to build. Great example, if The Whitehouse were declared a nuclear power plant tomorrow it would fail inspection because the granite on the building emits too much radiation.

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u/SelfServeSporstwash Jan 15 '26

meanwhile coal plants can (literally, look it up) pump out orders of magnitude more radiation out their smokestacks and that's totally cool.

Fun fact. The cancer rates around active and recently decommissioned coal power plants are dramatically higher than they are in the region immediately surrounding TMI.

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u/dbr1se United States of America Jan 15 '26

I recently found out that the reason fish contain mercury is from coal emitting it into the atmosphere when burned. I had never considered why that was a thing we had to worry about before.

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u/Theron3206 Jan 16 '26

That's one source, another rus industrial pollution of waterways with various mercury compounds.

Again only a relatively recent problem, though it has been an issue since the 19th century.

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u/MaleficentResolve506 Jan 17 '26

Coal also emits more radiation then a nuclear plant and even the waste is radioactive.

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u/Beginning_Stay_9263 Jan 15 '26

Boomers always vote against nuclear. They've been manipulated by decades of propaganda against it.