Tuesday, February 16, 2021¶

I signed a petition to ask the Estonian government to say a clear “No” to any investment in nuclear power plants in Estonia.

https://rahvaalgatus.ee/initiatives/91653f27-8fd4-4c39-b9e6-c2b6868ca6e3

I shared this on Facebook with the following summary (an excerpt of the petition itself):

Jah, minu meelest peaks Riigikogu ja Valitsus lõpetama igasuguse tegevuse tuumajaama rajamiseks Eestis ja kuulutada Eesti tuumavabaks. Me võime anda selge signaal, et energia tootmisel Eestis on prioriteetideks päikese-, tuule- ja puhas vesinikuenergeetika ning taastuvenergia salvestustehnoloogiad.

My post got exactly one like, and it caused three good friends to explain me why I am wrong.

I also read these news:

Lääne Elu 2021-02-08 : Eesti võib saada tuumajaama
Postimees 2021-02-08 : Eesti tuumajaama plaan hakkab jumet võtma

Intro: Reaktori eriplaneeringu taotlus esitatakse käesoleval aastal. Fermi on planeerinud tuumareaktori ehitamist Eestisse juba ligi kaks aastat. Plaanitavat tootmisvõimsust oleks kokku 1000-1200 megavatti. Eesti tuuma- ja energeetikateadlaste asutatud Fermi Energia esitab sel aastal valitsusele taotluse algatada riigi eriplaneering nüüdisaegse tuumareaktori rajamise uurimiseks. Kuni viis aastat kestva planeerimisprotsessi rahastamisel on õla alla pannud mitu võtmeinvestorit, näiteks Bolti ja Pipedrive’i asutajad, kuni miljon eurot kaasatakse ka avalikult.
There is even an MTÜ (NGO) being founded: http://www.tuumajaam.ee/
Eesti ainsa tuumajaama projekti eestvedaja Rohelistele: on arusaamatu, mille vastu te allkirju kogute

My summary: Ouch! In most modern parts of the world it seems clear that the operation and maintenance of nuclear plants becomes unbearable because it gets more and more difficult to evade your responsibility for the storage of waste. Already now the sector fully relies on the practice of exporting the waste to countries where the government simply lacks expertise for evaluating the risks or the power to impose legal requirements. But this method is morally questionable. We are in a time where even the French government –probably the proudest and most fervent promoter in history of nuclear power– repents and starts to try to get rid of their nuclear plants. But the “nuclear lobby”, i.e. the informal community of those who have made important investments into this technology, is far from surrendering. One of their hopes are little countries like Estonia where most people don’t follow what’s going on in France and Germany. And as we can see, their work seems successful. In Estonia they found at least one entrepreneur (Kalev Kallemets) who seems to believe in their lie. It is frightening.

My prayer: OMG! Help us to find sustainable solutions for our increasing energy needs. Help our politicians to make the right and -if needed- powerful decisions to protect us from selfish interests of a minority. And as always: if I am wrong, if I am just fearing dragons that don’t exist, then let me know so that I stop wasting our energy by ringing the alarm bell.