German nuclear program

This article deals with the nuclear energy research program of the Federal Republic of Germany, for nuclear research in the Third Reich see uranium project .

The German atomic program was a state research program for the peaceful use of nuclear energy in the Federal Republic of Germany , which was launched in 1955 by the then atomic minister Franz Josef Strauss and ran until 1976.

history

After the end of the Second World War, the German economy was very interested in an active German nuclear policy, because US industry had been in the nuclear reactor business since September 1954. For research purposes, the United States offered friendly countries enriched uranium . Germany, which was under the occupation statute, could not make a decision at that time; The interested German companies took part in the plans through the Physikalische Studiengesellschaft Düsseldorf mbH and had made considerable funds available as early as November 1954. There were plans for reactor construction at the Karlsruhe and Munich locations. From May 5, 1955, the Federal Republic was a sovereign state and was able to get into reactor research and development with public funds. Politicians saw in nuclear energy an alternative to the previously used energy sources coal and hydropower.

In August 1955, the UNESCO conference on the peaceful use of nuclear power finally took place in Geneva , which also signaled the beginning of large-scale development for the Germans. The American delegation brought a small demonstration reactor and offered $ 350,000 jump start aid for every reactor construction.

On October 6, 1955, Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer appointed his previous Special Minister, Franz Josef Strauss, to be Minister of Atomic Affairs in the Federal Ministry for Atomic Affairs, which was founded especially for this purpose . During his short term in office until 1956, Strauss worked out what is known as the three-stage plan for a German nuclear program of his own. His successors in office continued this in the years 1963–1967, 1968–1972 and 1973–1976.

The main task in the first stage of the program was to compensate for the exodus of qualified scientists and technicians that took place during the Nazi era . In the second stage, five research reactors were acquired from the USA and Great Britain. These were built in Munich, Frankfurt, Königsforst near Cologne, Berlin and Hamburg. Finally, in the third phase of the program, the construction of a nuclear reactor of German design and manufacture by the Reaktorzentrum Karlsruhe was planned. At the beginning of 1973, the then Federal Ministry of Research held a public discussion on the fourth part of the nuclear program.

See also

• Research reactor Munich
• Research reactor Frankfurt
• Berlin experimental reactor
• Research reactor Jülich 1
• Research reactor Jülich 2

Web links

• Atomic Minister Franz Josef Strauss, Hanns Seidel Foundation eV
• The past in the field of vision of a physicist, science study by Klaus Schlüpmann

Individual evidence

1. ↑ WESER-KURIER, February 14, 1973, page 2