Germany and Switzerland have turned their backs on nuclear power while other countries are talking about phasing it out and delaying the construction of new nuclear power plants.
Karl-Heinz Büschemann comments in the Süddeutsche Zeitung (June 16):
“It is remarkable that it is mainly the countries with dictatorships or pseudo-democracies that are building new nuclear plants. China, the biggest consumer of energy in the future, is currently working on 27 reactors, while Russia is building eleven new plants. In these countries the state is clearly in charge of the energy sector. Resistance from the people is unlikely….
“In the U.K., where Prime Minister Tony Blair promised a series of new reactors back in 2006, there are still no new projects today. In the U.S., where the last nuclear power plant went into operation in 1973, President George W. Bush called for the expansion of nuclear energy in 2001, but only one plant is currently under construction…. Cheap and clean nuclear power was a dream of mankind after the Second World War, but it hasn’t come true.”
Eric Koch’s book, The Weimar Triangle, is available at Indigo-Chapters and in your local bookstore. 
I not that this blog does not mention France which runs on 70% nuke. On another topic, India is doing some interesting work on thorium.
Good point. France is very much part of the German debate. It seems to be generally understood that if the non-nuclear calculations don’t work out Germany may be forced to BUY some nuclear energy from France. You are quite right: Herr Büschemann does not seem to consider France a full-fledged democracy.
Dukas had the whole story with his L’Apprenti Sorcier – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The lad played with powerful magic forces, benign at first but becoming ever more dangerous – that would have drowned him but for the intervention of his Master, the Sorcerer.
Unfortunately we can’t count on such intervention.
Dukas? You mean Goethe.
There will soon be a revolution against `green’ policies in advanced democracies. This past week natural gas and electrcity rates shot up in Britain. This does not affect the rich polticians and opinion leaders who make the rules– they can afford the hikes– but it does affects the vast majority of voters who feel it. The Germans can’t rely on wind power to run their factories.
There was a time, not long ago, when the Germans mobilized their resources for evil purposes. Now they seem to be resolved to do so for virtuous purposes. “They” includes many intelligent men and women not only green boy scouts. All political parties are backing the non-nuclear policy.
Which does not mean that they are right.
Eric, Eric, Eric! You surely don’t mean “Der Zauberlehrling” by that somewhat obscure German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe?
No sir! Most folks in the English-speaking world know this work from Walt Disney’s FANTASIA (1940) where that universal hero, Mickey Mouse, played the role of The Apprentice and wrestled unsuccessfully with myriads of water-bearing brooms. And the music – which everybody can pom-pom-pom (written in 1897) – was of course by Paul Dukas who hated the piece because it totally over-shadowed its composer.
All this is wildly off-topic. One of the reasons I’m glad I’m old is because I don’t want to live to see what the pursuit of nuclear energy will probably lead to sooner of later. Verb sap.
An excellent comment rebuking the author of this blog in an exemplarily gentlemanly way for being improperly Goethe-centric.
P.S.
What does Verb. sap mean?
Most people, Europeans and Americans have an instinctive fear of nuclear energy. Too much like the BOMB. The Japanese experience simply confirms this.
Very true. But the French seem to be overcoming their fear. 80% of their energy is nuclear. The difference between the French and the German apporach speaks volumes.
An interesting discussion, which leaves me still wanting to know:
What does “Verb sap” mean?
Verbum Sapienti (A Word To the Wise Is Enough) – Latin