IEA: Binnen afzienbare tijd staat alle vervuilende elektriciteitsopwekking in de schaduw van wind en zon

In the IEA-report on renewables published yesterday, the following is notable:

Over the coming five years, several renewable energy milestones are expected to be achieved:

  • In 2024, wind and solar PV together generate more electricity than hydropower.
  • In 2025, renewables surpass coal to become the largest source of electricitygeneration.
  • Wind and solar PV each surpass nuclear electricity generation in 2025 and 2026 respectively.
  • In 2028, renewable energy sources account for over 42% of global electricity generation, with the share of wind and solar PV doubling to 25%.

And keep in mind that the IEA has a long standing tendency to underestimate renewables and  overestimate nuclear in their scenarios

Advertising Authority slams claims made by Borssele Nuclear Power Plant about ‘recycling’ of nuclear waste as misleading


Operator EPZ says it doesn’t know where 60% of its spent fuel stays

EPZ, the operator of the Borssele nuclear power plant, has long claimed that it recycles "95 percent" of its nuclear fuel, and that only "5 percent" remains as nuclear waste. Following a complaint by Laka, the Board of Appeals of the Dutch Advertising Authority, ruled yesterday that these are misleading environmental advertisement claims. In its ruling, the Board blames EPZ all the more because these misleading claims appear on EPZ's website under the header “Environment & Health”, where 'unsuspecting visitors should expect accurate and balanced information about nuclear fuel and nuclear waste'. Continue reading →

Next week: Russian uranium transport from Rotterdam to Germany

(Nederlandse versie) On Sunday, September 11, the Mikhail Dudin arrives in the port of Rotterdam; a ship carrying Russian uranium. There it will be transferred to trucks that will then transport it across the Netherlands on Monday to Lingen, Germany, where the uranium will be processed into fuel rods. This was announced this morning by the Russian Ecodefense, Bündnis AgieL from Germany and Laka in a joint press release. A few weeks ago, it was already known that a transit license had been issued by the Dutch regulator ANVS for the transport of Russian uranium through the Netherlands. As far as is known, this will be the first transport of Russian uranium in the Netherlands and Germany after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading →

So how flexible is nuclear power in France now really?

(Nederlandse versie) Laka sometimes gets the question that if nuclear power plants in France can be used flexibly, can nuclear power not be used as a intermittent source of electricity, complementing wind and solar?
The short answer then is, that if nuclear power plants can be used flexibly, it does not mean that in France nuclear power plants will come to the rescue as soon as the sun sets. Coincidentally, Dutch nuclear energy research center NRG recently reported that they are investigating precisely this for French EDF: How to make nuclear fuel more resistant to "transients" (changes in reactor power), because, according to experts at NRG: "At the moment, [French] nuclear power plants are designed to operate at a constant power: it's on or off." Continue reading →

Online: 5000 posters from the international anti-nuclear movement

Laka launches a database with almost 5,000 posters from the worldwide anti-nuclear movement. The database is part of Laka's 'special collections' - the fighting culture of the international anti-nuclear movement - which also includes music and graphic novels. Apart from campaigning against the pro-nuclear revival in the Netherlands, Laka has an important function as treasurer of the cultural heritage of the anti-nuclear movement: in the Netherlands but also internationally.
Laka has a large collection of posters itself, but has expanded the collection for this database over the years with images of posters received from other organizations or to be found on the internet. All these almost 5000 posters exist not only as digital files but also on paper: that is one of the conditions to be included in this collection. Another condition is that the size must be larger than 21x30cm (A4) to be considered a poster. On this poster page there is also attention for other online collections of posters from other social movements, an overview of poster books, and more. Continue reading →

URENCO 1970‒2020: FROM THE TREATY OF ALMELO TO ATOM AUSSTIEG

New brochure focusing on the uranium enrichment consortium Urenco
The Treaty of Almelo was signed on 4 March 1970 ‒ an agreement between the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and West Germany on setting up a company with the aim of enriching uranium: Urenco. The origin of uranium enrichment is military and until then enrichment was primarily the monopoly of the United States and Soviet nuclear-weapon states. Lees verder →

Despite ‘termination’ NRG confirms: Still weapons-grade uranium in Dutch nuclear reactor

Despite its triumphant press release of the contrary, two years ago, NRG, the operator of the High Flux Reactor in the Netherlands, this week confirmed Laka’s suspicion that NRG is still using weapons-grade highly enriched uranium in its reactor. Therefore, the Netherlands is currently in breach of its agreement with Obama, reached at the Nuclear Security Summit in the Hague in 2014, to cease the use of weapons-prone highly enriched uranium for civil medical use.
Continue reading →

Febr. 5: The aftermath of Fukushima

It has been almost eight years since the Tohoku earthquake and Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan.
Oshidori Mako and Ken are Japanese comedians who have kept track of the aftermath of Fukushima. In 2019, they will visit the Netherlands, Germany and France to hold lectures to give us an insight into the on-going disaster. Please join, our talk and discussion to make our way to sustainable and renewable energy for a better future.
Organized by Hope Step Japan. Language: English and Japanese, Entrance: 5 euro (students are free of charge)
Amsterdam, Wibaustraat 3b ( Wibauthuis, Hogeschool van Amsterdam)
Tuesday February 5, 2019; 19:00 - 21:00 hr

Asterix und das Atomkraftwerk

Exactly fourty years after its 'birth' Asterix und das Atomkraftwerk is honoured with a poster-exhibition in Austria.
Asterix und das Atomkraftwerk was first created in Vienna in 1978 by cutting up existing Asterix comic books, rearranging selected panels and adding a new narrative into the speech bubbles. The story of the successful resistance of the Gaulish village that was declared a site for a nuclear power plant resonated with the anti-nuclear movement. Pirated copies were circulated in various German towns even before the first German edition was stopped through legal action by the copyright owners of the Asterix brand. The volume was translated and adapted to Dutch, French and various dialects Spanish, incl. Basque. Continue reading →

Anti-nuclear magazines

A trove of magazines from the Dutch anti-nuclear movement has been digitized by Laka. Many hundreds of issues are available online. Laka is now working on digitising its collection of anti-nuclear magazines from countries other than The Netherlands (Germany, UK, USA, etc.).
[Start here] to discover this part of the library.

Dataset of magazines
Before digitizing articles was possible or doable, Laka entered crucial information of articles in a database. This dataset from the early days of the digital era, called 'Adder', has been rescued and contains around 40.000 articles from the Netherlands and abroad. It is easy to search as it has been categorised by many volunteers in over two thousand tags. Some of the articles in Adder have a direct link to their online issue. If not, you're welcome to request a scan or copy by e-mail.