Adolf Birkhofer

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Adolf Birkhofer (born February 23, 1934 in Munich ; † November 9, 2019 there ) was a German physicist . He was professor for reactor dynamics and reactor safety at the Technical University of Munich .

academic career

Adolf Birkhofer studied electrical engineering from 1953 to 1958 at what was then the Technical University of Munich (THM) and from 1959 to 1961 theoretical physics at the University of Innsbruck. After two intermediate positions at Siemens & Halske and at the Bavarian Technical Monitoring Association , he moved to the Institute for Measurement and Control Technology at THM in 1963. There he built the Laboratory for Reactor Control and Plant Safety (LRA) from 1963 to 1971.

After Birkhofer 1964 at the University of Innsbruck for Dr. phil. received his doctorate and completed his habilitation at the THM in 1967, he was appointed to the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in 1971 as an associate professor for reactor dynamics and reactor safety. In 1975 he was appointed full professor at TUM.

Non-university activities

In 1977 Birkhofer founded the Society for Plant and Reactor Safety (GRS), a merger of the LRA with the Institute for Reactor Safety of the Technical Monitoring Associations, which has existed since 1965. V. (IRS) in Cologne. Until the end of 2001, Birkhofer headed GRS as its technical and scientific managing director and made it an internationally recognized institution.

In 1979 the “German Risk Study”, for which Birkhofer was largely responsible, was published.

After his retirement, Birkhofer founded the Institute for Safety and Reliability (ISaR) with TUM in 2003 , a research and consulting company in the field of safety and reliability technology.

Birkhofer was a member of the editorial board of the magazine atw (Atomwirtschaft) and was a member of the executive committee of the German Atomic Forum .

Birkhofer was a member of the expert commission set up and financed by Vattenfall after the incidents in June / July 2007 in the Krümmel and Brunsbüttel nuclear power plants .

Further engagements were:

  • Chairman of the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) of the OECD (1984–1988)
  • Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee of the Commission of the European Union (1984–1988)
  • Member (since 1986) and chairman of the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (INSAG) at the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (1986–1991)
  • Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) (1993–1998)
  • Member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Board (WTB) of the Bavarian State Government (1988–2002)
  • Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Bavarian Research Foundation (1988–2002)
  • Chairman of the Franco-German Society for Science and Technology eV (since 2002)
  • Expert for the Commission Nationale d'Evaluation (CNE2), France (since 2012)

Awards and honors

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. z. B. Evaporate quietly - The number of nuclear supporters is increasing again. A "German reactor risk study" seems to prove them right , DER SPIEGEL 34/1979, August 20, 1979 .
  2. ↑ a b Nuclear energy: The members of the Vattenfall Commission ( memento from December 25, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) zeit.de, July 27, 2007.
  3. ↑ Announcement of awards of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Federal Gazette . Vol. 31, No. 45, March 6, 1979.
personal data
SURNAME Birkhofer, Adolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physicist
DATE OF BIRTH February 23, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH 9th November 2019
Place of death Munich