Apple & opponents square off over proposed Irish datacenter's distance from nuclear sites
Apple is once again finding itself on the defensive about its proposed Irish datacenter, with some critics charging that the company picked an arbitrary safety distance from nuclear facilities.
A rendering of the proposed datacenter.
Apple wants the datacenter to be at least 320 kilometers (about 198.8 miles) from such facilities, according to a document seen by Business Insider. A number of people opposed to the proposed location -- near Athenry in County Galway -- have suggested that Apple picked the safety distance to avoid choosing other plots, remarking that Apple doesn't apply the same policy in the U.S., and that other multinationals like Google and Microsoft don't use this limit either.
One opponent pointed out that nuclear facilities are in fact within the suggested safety range, something Apple's own Oscar Gonzalez acknowledged in a witness statement. He specifically cited the closed Wylfa power station in Wales, which he identified as 305 kilometers away, although BI's own measurements put the distance at 280 kilometers.
Attempting to rationalize discrepancies, Gonzalez said that the company's site selection criteria has evolved in the wake of disasters like Fukushima, and that some U.S. sites might not have been chosen under current policies. He added that Apple is trying to minimize the threats to its infrastructure, but "reluctantly accepts the increased risk" if a nuclear facility is within the safety range of a site that otherwise meets selection criteria.
Although County Galway's council has already approved planning permission for a datacenter, that decision is currently under appeal. Many people have raised concerns about potential environmental and power consumption issues.
A rendering of the proposed datacenter.
Apple wants the datacenter to be at least 320 kilometers (about 198.8 miles) from such facilities, according to a document seen by Business Insider. A number of people opposed to the proposed location -- near Athenry in County Galway -- have suggested that Apple picked the safety distance to avoid choosing other plots, remarking that Apple doesn't apply the same policy in the U.S., and that other multinationals like Google and Microsoft don't use this limit either.
One opponent pointed out that nuclear facilities are in fact within the suggested safety range, something Apple's own Oscar Gonzalez acknowledged in a witness statement. He specifically cited the closed Wylfa power station in Wales, which he identified as 305 kilometers away, although BI's own measurements put the distance at 280 kilometers.
Attempting to rationalize discrepancies, Gonzalez said that the company's site selection criteria has evolved in the wake of disasters like Fukushima, and that some U.S. sites might not have been chosen under current policies. He added that Apple is trying to minimize the threats to its infrastructure, but "reluctantly accepts the increased risk" if a nuclear facility is within the safety range of a site that otherwise meets selection criteria.
Although County Galway's council has already approved planning permission for a datacenter, that decision is currently under appeal. Many people have raised concerns about potential environmental and power consumption issues.
Comments
And we have arrived at a new low.
While I can chalk up some complaints as just a matter of misunderstanding and some need for clarification of a development proposal (nothing special there), some of the listed concerns are utterly absurd, hysterical nonsense and show zero effort into actually understanding the application.
Meanwhile Apple are adding more trees, a public walkway, providing a classroom for the nearby local school and powering the facility with green power.. oh and the local council get to enjoy the boost to the local economy by the 850 million Euro project that will employ 300 people. The other available location is in Denmark and it wouldn't surprise me if the Danes are salivating at the thought of Ireland losing out.
Why, BI is so pro Apple! /s
It isn't in their backyard. Backyard means a block away, or so. Ireland badly needs the employment, and overall, in Ireland, Apple is a big employer, with over 6,000 employees. For a country with just about 5 million people, that's a lot of jobs. That's the equivalent to 372,000 jobs here, and the number is rising.
Maybe this isn't as bad as building a fission plant at sea level on a fault zone. Who would do something that blatantly stupid? Wait...
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Um, Apple is building a data center, about as benign a neighbor as anything in the business and industrial world. Maybe you read it wrong and think Apple is building a nuclear power plant?
Also, good grief they're building a data center! Not some kind of missile launcher that will be taken out by Russians in case of nuclear war (sic).
The plant itself resisted the 9.0 earthquake (one of the largest all time) and the Tsunami (biggest in 1000 years) mostly just fine.
It is a little complicated and contradictory. Although Apple has said they would buy renewable power from a private source to offset their power consumption, the actual power will come from the national grid and ultimately use approximately 8% of all the available electricity in Ireland. In contradictory statements they have also said they plan to use 18 generators on site.
1. Application to the local government.
2. That decision can be appealed to a national appeals board - An Bord Pleanála - under certain conditions. If it's a certain kind of case of large case, this is often a public hearing.
3. Under certain conditions, ABP's finding can be appealed to the High Court.
Many cases go to the second stage. It's not particularly unusual and certainly doesn't mean any unusual whining is going on.
The electricity aspect is simply arguing that even with an overarching permission, each of the 8 phases should make a sub-application at the time to ensure the grid has been suitably updated in the meantime. (Each phase being about 1% of the national grid.) Makes perfect sense.
Presumably even if they're grid-powered, they'd have back-up generators? Hence the 18?