Since there is nothing in either science or engineering to support Merkel's stand, it is 100% based on politics. In fact Merkel was a big supporter of nukes before Fukushima, and knows full well that type of incident is impossible in Germany's much better regulated industry and in more modern reactors.

Merkel also knows full well that Germany's renewable plans are utterly unworkable despite being politically correct.

Greenie superstar George Monbiot shows us that the German renewable experiment is an utter failure.

http://www.monbiot.com/2010/03/12/the-german-disease/

For a graphic look at how well Germany has done have a look here.

http://www.iea.org/stats/pdf_graphs/DETPES.pdf

The thin little red line on top is Wind & Solar Energy. Any thickening of that red line is matched with a thickening of their NG line that is 5X larger. Notice how #1 anti-Nuclear country Germany, achieved a lot more and a lot quicker with their mundane Nuclear expansion than they have with their all-out, no-holds-barred, mega-subsidy Solar & Wind program. Their Renewable Energy program was "so successful" that they are planning on building 26 humungous lignite dirt-burners to supply the bulk of their new electricity requirements. The result - Germany produces 601 gm CO2 per kwh of electricity generated (one of the highest in Europe), while Nuclear France produces 83 gm CO2 per kwh.

The German love of natural gas and coal which provides almost all the energy from its wind/solar/fossil's for load balance experiment kills tens of thousands of European citizens every year from air and ground water pollution is now flying on steroids with the shutdown of Germany's old nukes.

One thing German's seem to be good at is sacrificing the lives of large numbers of people in support of a doomed cause.

There is no slowdown on nuke builds outside of Europe, and even there the Russians, Czech's. Pole's, and French are eagerly waiting the opportunity to replace Germany's nuke power with their own exports.
seth

And how is Germany going to produce electricity?

By burning brown coal, which pollutes the atmosphere many times more than hard or anthracite coal.

Global warming here we come.

@Seth a little less FUD and a bit more credible reference for your postion would be appreciated . I don't draw the same conclusion as you from that IEA graph it appears Deutschland is replacing fossils with renewables at greater than a 1:1 ratio

"In fact Merkel was a big supporter of nukes before Fukushima, and knows full well that type of incident is impossible in Germany's much better regulated industry and in more modern reactors."

seth, what are you basing this on? The reactors in Japan were among the most modern and best regulated on the planet. If it had to happen, I'm pretty glad it happened in Japan, as they have the means and will to cope with it as best as possible. If this had happened in China, Korea or India...well, I think you see where this is going.

@eller
Sorry you are having such troubles. This is the what I posted.
"The thin little red line on top is Wind & Solar Energy. Any thickening of that red line is matched with a thickening of their NG line that is 5X larger."

Total renewable includes firewood and hydro neither of which have any growth potential in Germany or any other country for that matter. Solar/wind is the only reasonable "renewable" alternative and as you can see is unworkable.

@mack

The Japanese are the worst regulated country in the developed world because of endemic corruption. The regulator was warned many times that the Tsunami protection was grossly inadequate, went to Tepco with the complaint, got a much better job offer and prompty forgot about it. That's how it works there.

These were ancient fifties design reactors with known issues and fixes that the regulator also ignored. Despite the same inadequate tsunami protection, the more modern Daini, and Onagawa plants both survived safely hits by larger tsunami waves.

seth

Seth, what do you mean there is no science to support Merkel's position? Do you not get CNN where you are? Japan just had a meltdown. Fission reactors are demonstrably unsafe because once you start them they don't want to stop. And they make a byproduct that is lethal for 100,000 years. These are kind of big strikes against this technology, Seth.

As for what is going to replace it, I don't know. However, it occurs to me that there are a lot of sandy places in the world that do nothing but absorb sunlight all day long, which is why they are sandy and uninhabitable wastelands. Maybe that would be a good place to cover with solar panels, what do you think?

Far more damage to the environment at Fukusima was caused by the massive oil refinery disaster destroying tens of thousands of acres of land forever with its toxic spew.. In fact the current evacuation is simply a precaution, very costly and well deserved by the Japanese people because of their support of the corrupt practices that led to the disaster.

Not a person killed in a nuclear power accident in 60 years of service with hundreds of millions of lives saved from the pollution from those coal plants which would have taken their place.

All the worlds nuclear waste now perfectly contained would fill 1% the volume of the Great Pyramid at Giza which has lasted 5000 years - less than a football field buried 40 feet deep. Not waste. It is fuel enough to power the world for hundreds of years while being destroyed in gen IV reactors like India's new 500 MW first of 5 units. Ironically that is the only way to get rid of it. The tiny amount left is such a low level it can be returned to the mine shaft.

By contrast, a hydro dam burst in China a few years back killed several hundred thousand people.

Nukes cheap, safe, clean and green. Hydro a dangerous, filthy GHG spewing expensive boondongle.

The only real long term cost to the Fukushima area from the nuke plant accident similar to TMI was the destruction of the reactors themselves. There is a huge difference between modern reactors and the fifties designed model T's at fukusima and TMI. Even in these cases both accidents were caused by systemic corruption. The more modern Daini, and Onagawa plants both survived safely hits by larger tsunami waves. Averaged over the hundreds of reactors in service and the hundred of millions of lives saved by the nuclear displacement of coal, the cost of these disasters is nothing.

Unfortunately the current wind/solar/ gas scam which requires inefficient OCGT gas plant to backup the "renewables" actually uses more gas and produces more GHG than simply using CCGT gas plant and skipping the renewables altogether. When "green" storage systems are used the wind/solar option zooms to over $1.20 a kwh more than 100 times nuclear.

Greenie superstar George Monbiot shows us that the German renewable experiment is an utter failure.

http://www.monbiot.com/2010/03/12/the-german-disease/

You Deniers need to keep in mind that the Big Oil funded Big Green movement's silly love affair with sunbeams and warm breezes kills millions every year by deferring the nuclear solution to pollution and by leading us inevitably to that civilization ending peak oil/climate crisis will kill billions more.
seth