>Energy splitting of the atom is the foundation of any change in the universe..
Yes? Nuclear fusion may be... I'm happy for this decision in Germany, I hope that all country open your eyes on the future.
>Nuclear is safe. Sort out the issue of waste, and it will be even safer.
Yes, It is true. Until Chernobyl. Until Fukushima. Until next disaster...
But I'm sure that you know only level 7 incident... A lot (thousand) of people dead for level 5 or 6 incident, but is better that nobody know this... search for Majak, Chalk River, Goiania, Windscale, Tallin .. and Three mile island (remember?).
Two italians are working (seriusly) in Greece around a cold fusion power plant: this kind of research are the future, not nuclear fission: good only for bombs!

Reduction in aids from developed countries since 2008 have killed more people in hunger than all casualties from recent wars & natural disasters & fukushima nuclear plants.

Nuclear plants will expand as oil price climbs up.

Nuclear technology has improved considerably; thorium reactors promise to be much safer than uranium-based water-cooled reactors, plus they can be optimized to be "breeder" reactors--producing more fuel than they use up.

i am from germany and extremely happy that this energy is abandoned, and im looking forward to nuclear fusion plants, as they are the real future!

>For centuries, the rulers rule the people through fear

You can't rule people through fear. Rulers rule because they provide simple and clear targets, real targets.
And enemy is one of such things. One bad thing about enemies is that most of the time they are not result of political imagination, they are quite real and they want your resources and your territories for real, no jokes.

>Now we have the problem of nuclear energy and of course we also have a 'solution' - green energy.

Biggest advantage of green energy is that they never go to boring calculations considering economic efficiency.

Some time ago I had talk with one of the guys who installed "green energy" sites. He assured me that huge number of methods exists to make this looks like real business not like throwing money in the toilet. Like falsify service periods, pump average wind speeds for region, providing price drop projections that looks like complete fantasy. But biggest thing is, of course, goverment money and grants. Without it can't happen for most part.

@LPowell: The laws of thermodynamics cannot be escaped. Nuclear power produces huge amounts of energy in a small area; to get the same level of energy from solar, wind, or wave power would require use of a huge amount of land/sea area along with the resulting damage to the environment (i.e. dead birds/animals, disturbed habitats, etc.) So basically it's a choice: make energy through use of a relatively small plant that generates lots of energy or a lot of land/sea area to get the same amount of energy from low-energy density sources. Add in that wind or sunshine is not predictable/reliable and the choices are not so clear-cut, unless you enjoy having your power suddenly disappear without any warning.

Vitaliy said: "But biggest thing is, of course, goverment money and grants. Without it can't happen for most part."

That's the story of nuclear power in a nutshell - a huge government-subsidized toxic waste generation project. Characterized by centralized bureaucratic control, chronic engineering failures due to incompetent worst-case analysis, and blatant disregard for long-term environmental consequences. If the hazardous waste disposal costs had ever been seriously factored into the entire proposition, it would have been obvious what a self-destructive quagmire it would become.

There are several abandoned military installations in my vicinity that remain unfit for human habitation. These sites are prohibited of course, but security is minimal and easily bypassed by a small film crew using compact equipment. No Hollywood backlot can simulate this kind of authenticity. More haunted scenes from Chernobyl.

1. Nuclear power plants in Germany will all be shut down until 2022 and no new ones will be built.
2. This decision has been made years ago! What they settled now is just a new date, 2022.
3. Renewable energies (solar, wind, bio, water, geothermic) are growing twice as fast as prognosed in Germany, going from 3,8% in 1990 to 16,9% in 2010. In Denmark it went from 2.6% to 28,7% in the same time. Austria is Europe's leader with over 60%, mainly water energy. China invested 34,6 billion dollar in renewable energy technology in 2009, world's leading investor, USA being second. All of these countries accept and name renewable energies as the energy solution and technologies of the future. For Germany, studies name 2050 as a realistic date for the whole country being powered by 100% renewable energies.
4. The number of smaller company renewable energy suppliers affect the price of energy, making it cheaper. This effect can be seen in Germany already, slowly taking away the price monopole the 4 largest energy suppliers shared for decades.
5. Nuclear power is a technology of the past, not the future, it is neither safe nor clean and can be replaced over time without power supply shortages.
6. Vitaliy, nuclear incidents are not like terrorism. When an uncontrolled meltdown happens, like it happened quite often for a 'safe' technology, then the damage lasts for hundreds of years, directly affecting future generations. There is no nuclear power plant in Germany that has an insurance for the case of an uncontrolled melt down. The costs of the damage it would do in a country with such a population density are just too high, there simply is no insurance agency that's willing to take the risk. Ironically, we are willing to take the risk.

There are great great alternatives to nuclear power with positive effects for nature, people and economy, and there should really be no reason to keep supporting nuclear power in such discussions.

>2. This decision has been made years ago! What they settled now is just a new date, 2022.

Link that proves this fact. I mean "decision has been made years ago".

>Renewable energies (solar, wind, bio, water, geothermic) are growing twice as fast as prognosed in Germany, going from 3,8% in 1990 to 16,9% in 2010. In Denmark it went from 2.6% to 28,7% in the same time. Austria is Europe's leader with over 60%, mainly water energy.

Links to documents, please.
With data that break with numbers to wind, hydro, etc. I'll even help you - two mentioned account for very big amount in the total number.

>The number of smaller company renewable energy suppliers affect the price of energy, making it cheaper.

How so? Any calculations? Prove?
I just see things that prove otherwise. Decentralisation of electricity systems always cause price hikes.

>Nuclear power is a technology of the past, not the future, it is neither safe nor clean and can be replaced over time without power supply shortages

Again. Links.

> The costs of the damage it would do in a country with such a population density are just too high, there simply is no insurance agency that's willing to take the risk.

It looks like you belong to such fucking group that always want some insurance and no risks.
Nature do not work that way. Bigger risks - better life. Want no risks - life will suck.
Have you considered risks that one of hydro power plants dams collapses causing enourmous flood?
Or that volcanic eruption happens and your solar panels become ineffective for a month.
Never come to your mind?

>There are great great alternatives to nuclear power with positive effects for nature, people and economy, and there should really be no reason to keep supporting nuclear power in such discussions.

I fucking hate talks on this level.
See better alternative? Show it. Provide calculations of cost, service, energy required for all this, calculate how much will be cost of your "new energy" and how stable it's supply will be.

Vitaliy, to my eyes those photos are beautiful. The reality is that these toxic waste sites will never again be habitable in our lifetimes, and there is nothing more poignant than self-inflicted ruin. You and I won't be here to pay for it of course, but the costs are truly incalculable. Fukushima will likely become one of the most enduring of human monoliths, estimated to require entombed containment for centuries, and will remain lethally contaminated with Plutonium for well over a hundred thousand years.

@LPowell

Again. Do not use emotions. It is not the place.