Srila Prabhupada, SB1.7.28: The brahmastra is similar to the modern nuclear weapon manipulated by atomic energy. The atomic energy works wholly on total combustibility, and so the brahmastra also acts. It creates an intolerable heat similar to atomic radiation, but the difference is that the atomic bomb is a gross type of nuclear weapon, whereas the brahmastra is a subtle type of weapon produced by chanting hymns. It is a different science, and in the days gone by such science was cultivated in the land of Bharata-varsa. The subtle science of chanting hymns is also material, but it has yet to be known by the modern material scientists. Subtle material science is not spiritual, but it has a direct relationship with the spiritual method, which is still subtler.
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Vattenfall’s Kreummel Blunder Strikes a Blow for Germany’s Anti-Nuke Camp
By Jacob Mazer, Assistant Editor, Fuel Cycle Week
Traffic lights blinked out and shopping malls went dark in northern Germany this weekend as a transformer malfunction caused an emergency shutdown at Vattenfall’s 25-year old Kruemmel nuclear plant. The incident occurred just one week after Kruemmel’s reopening, after two years of repairs following a 2007 transformer fire. The company revealed this week that a device that monitors partial discharges of power at the transformer had not been installed.
Both of Kruemmel’s transformers must now be replaced. It will take the new transformers until next spring to arrive, Vattenfall said, and even longer to obtain proper permissions and install the new gear. In the meantime, the company will conduct a full inspection of the Kruemmel reactor. This week, the reactor vessel will be opened for an inspection of the 80,000 fuel rods, one or more of which the company believes may have been damaged during the incident.
“We are aware that we have lost trust again,” said Vattenfall Chief Tuomo Hatakka. “We’ll have to earn it anew.” Indeed, Kruemmel’s failed restart not only interrupts the utility’s operations–Vattenfall loses about €1 million (US$1.4 million) in operating income each day that Kruemmel and its other halted plant, Brunsbuettel, is not running–but also tarnishes the company’s reputation.
In Vattenfall’s home country of Sweden, the government demanded an account of its work to improve safety, and the nuclear safety agency contemplated more intense supervision of the utility’s operations. On Wednesday, the government ordered Vattenfall to improve safety at the Ringhals plant, which has chalked more than 60 safety incidents.
In Germany, anti-nuclear advocates seized on the Kruemmel shutdown as a reason to close Germany’s fleet of reactors. “It’s time to switch off the Kruemmel plant,” said Vice-Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a member of the Social Democratic Party. The incident even drew frustration from nuclear supporters such as Peter Harry Carstensen, State Premier of Schleswig Holstein, where Kruemmel is located. “If there is one more incident like this, I will see to it that this power station is shut down.”
Clamor over Kruemmel plays out against the background of a larger nuclear debate within Germany. Under the leadership of former prime minister Gerhard Shroeder, Germany decided in 2000 to close its 17 reactors by 2020. Current Chancellor Angela Merkel is warmer to nuclear power, and encourages continuing its use. As national elections at the end of September draw closer, Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union has backed away from the prospect of building new plants, but continues to advocate extending the lifespan of existing reactors. Nuclear is not popular in Germany, but high power prices have lately started to soften the resistance of the populace.
In this light, the Kruemmel debacle speaks not only to Vattenfall’s irresponsibility and ineptitude, but harms the case of nuclear in general. It is almost certain that Germany will find a reason to continue operating its nuclear plants, as there is at this time no apparent replacement for the generation they provide.The damage is really dealt in the case for nuclear as an enduring option, distancing its chance to play a role in the next generation of German power.
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