TUM's “mini nuclear power plant” is causing heated discussions - the nature conservation association wants to sue
Created: 12/28/2021, 9:15 PM
From: Max Wochinger
Old and new: In the background the “atomic egg”, which was commissioned in 1957.
In 2000 the FRM was shut down, five years later the successor FRM II (left in the picture) was put into operation.
© Robert Brouczek
The research reactor at the Technical University of Munich is causing a stir.
Out of operation since 2020, TUM wants to restart it.
And meets with resistance.
Garching - The research reactor in the north of Munich has been out of operation since March 17, 2020.
Because of the corona pandemic, scientists were barely able to travel.
Before the pandemic, around 1,000 researchers used the neutrons produced here for experiments and studies.
Nuclear fission neutrons are used in technology and medicine.
No electricity is produced in Garching, even if it is a small nuclear power plant.
Research reactor at TUM: “Atom-Ei” has a long tradition in Garching
Research has been going on in Garching for a long time.
In 1957, the so-called atomic egg of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) went into operation.
The Munich research reactor, or FRM for short, was the first nuclear facility in Germany.
It served as a neutron source for researchers.
A sensation in the still young Federal Republic.
But there were also protests, because even then the research reactor was operated with highly enriched uranium, which critics see as being capable of nuclear weapons.
In 2000 the FRM was switched off, in 2005 the "Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz", FRM II for short, started operations.
The cooling-off pool: Only three of the 50 seats are currently free.
© Robert Brouczek
The protests have remained, exacerbated by an incident last year.
On May 14, 2020, radioactive gas leaked in Garching because an operator error had occurred when cleaning the water in the reactor basin and binding the radioactive substance C-14.
The incident was only classified as a “deviation”, then as a “disruption”.
TUM emphasizes that the event had "no impact" on people or the environment.
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Garching: Technical University of Munich wants to restart the reactor
So now the TUM wants to restart the reactor.
The nuclear supervisory authority, in Bavaria the Ministry of the Environment, already gave its approval in March.
Nevertheless, the FRM II is not yet in operation.
TUM has been working on a complicated neutron cooling system for months.
It has to be replaced.
That is "somewhat complex," says a spokeswoman.
The exact arrival date has therefore not yet been set.
The time pressure is great.
150 planned experiments have accumulated.
There are similar research reactors in Europe only in Belgium and France, the plant in Grenoble is currently also being serviced.
Scientists from all over the world are waiting for the Garching neutrons.
If the critics have their way, they'll have to do it longer.
Because the FRM II is operated with fuel elements with highly enriched uranium-235 of 93 percent.
The critics say that this is capable of nuclear weapons.
The TUM holds against it: Only with “complex processes” in large-scale plants could the fuel assemblies be processed into material suitable for nuclear weapons, says Axel Pichlmaier, technical director of the research reactor.
The elements in Garching are "neither technically nor according to the internationally recognized definition weapon capable".
In addition, there are very high security precautions.
Axel Pichlmaier stands in the hall with the heat measurement booths.
The technical director wants to restart the reactor.
© Robert Brouczek
Research reactor in Garching: Bund-Naturschutz raises allegations against TUM
The highly enriched fuel elements have been a sticking point for decades.
Actually, it shouldn't exist anymore.
As early as the 1970s, the international community agreed to dispense with highly enriched uranium in research reactors.
The approval for the operation of the FRM II between the federal government and Bavaria therefore provided for a conversion to only 50 percent enriched U-235.
The reactor was to be converted by 2010.
A suitable fuel has not yet been found, says Axel Pichlmaier.
For this reason, 93 percent of uranium-235 is still used today, secured by a further agreement between the federal government and Bavaria.
The Federation of Nature Conservation considers this agreement to be unlawful because neither the state's nuclear regulatory authority nor the federal nuclear regulatory authority were involved.
This is also the conclusion reached by an expert opinion commissioned by the Greens in the Landtag.
The conclusion of the critics: The reactor operation is illegal.
The Federation of Nature Conservation has filed a lawsuit against the continued operation.
The Bavarian Administrative Court is currently examining the lawsuit.
TUM sees itself in the law.
In 2020, the retrofitting agreement was extended to 2023.
Only then would a new fuel candidate with less enriched uranium have to be determined.
TUM wants to have the application ready by 2025.
Retrofitting is not that easy, says the spokeswoman for FRM II. Ultimately, it is about the development of a completely new reactor core.
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Garching: Research reactor generates nuclear waste
Environmental activists consider this to be an advance. Outside of Russia, almost all research reactors have already been converted, "TUM is the most prominent exception," says Alan Kuperman, for example. The American political scientist has been working on the Garching reactor plans for almost 30 years. The withdrawal of a research manuscript from the RERTR conference fits into the image of the critics. A scientist, himself an employee at TUM, confirmed in the paper in 2018 that the reactor could be converted directly to low-enriched uranium. TUM refused to approve the paper. "The employee's draft was based on incorrect assumptions," TUM said when asked.
And there is another problem: the nuclear waste.
One fuel element contains 8.1 kilograms of uranium, which is enough for a research cycle of 60 days.
Consumed elements have to submerge for six years.
47 cooldown slots are already occupied in Garching - only three are still free.
The garbage is to be sent to the central interim storage facility in Ahaus in North Rhine-Westphalia.
A total of 400 kilograms of uranium silicide are stored in the FRM II.
The interim storage is "completely unexplained," says Claudia Köhler, member of the state parliament of the Greens.
“A highly complex transport of nuclear waste through Bavaria to Northern Germany is imminent.” Köhler announced a request to the state government.
