More on Germany and the nuclear shut-down

Another chance to comment on the decision in Germany to shut down nuclear power, prompted by an article in Der Spiegel about "The Downside of Germany's Nuclear Phaseout".


Germany produced 46% of its electricity from coal in 2008 (and another 14% from natural gas). Nuclear is 23%. While I agree that there are a lot of problems with nuclear power - how many lives have been lost from it in operation in Germany? In the three accidents that have happened in the industry in Germany - the number is zero. Now how many people are killed annually from coal mining? From the pollution from coal power plants? What about the climate impacts of coal? Oddly, I can't find this (maybe I would if my German was better...) - but premature deaths from air pollution in Germany are estimated at 65,000.

While I agree that nuclear waste is not good, I think that the very real risks and impacts of coal must be the first thing tackled. Once coal is phased out, and gas, then nuclear should be addressed.