Research reactor Frankfurt

Research reactor Frankfurt
Coordinates	50 ° 6 '47 "  N , 8 ° 37' 13"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 6 '47 "  N , 8 ° 37' 13"  E
country	Germany
Data
operator	University of Frankfurt
start of building	1956
Installation	January 10, 1958
Shutdown	March 19, 1968
Shutdown	October 30, 2006
Reactor type	homogeneous. Solution reactor
Thermal performance	50 kW
Neutron flux density	10 12  n / (cm 2 s)
was standing	February 2, 2009

The Research Reactor Frankfurt ( FRF-1 ) was a nuclear reactor that was operated from 1958 to 1968 as a neutron source at the Institute for Nuclear Physics of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main in Frankfurt-Rebstock .

history

The research reactor FRF-1 was donated to the university by Hoechst AG in 1956 on the occasion of the establishment of the Institute for Nuclear Physics. It was a homogeneous solution reactor in which the fuel is dissolved in the moderator . After the research reactor in Munich, the reactor went into operation as the second reactor in the Federal Republic of Germany and reached its first criticality on January 10, 1958. It had a nominal power of 50 kW, the maximum thermal neutron flux density was 10 ¹² n · cm ⁻² s ⁻¹ . It was operated with uranium enriched to 20% and moderated with light water and with the graphite piled up around the reactor vessel. After ten years of operation, the reactor had to be shut down on March 19, 1968 due to technical difficulties. The Berlin experimental reactor in Berlin-Wannsee and the first reactor in Japan, the JRR-1, were almost identical . All were of the Atomics International L-54 type.

From 1973 to 1977 the research reactor FRF-2 of the type TRIGA - swimming pool reactor , which should have a thermal output of 1 MW, was built in its place . Contaminated and activated plant components from the previous reactor were used for the construction . During the construction period, the responsible authorities increased their safety requirements, e.g. B. to protect against sabotage . At the same time, the reactor lost its attractiveness for the participating scientists because its neutron flux was too low for many experiments, especially in the field of nuclear solid-state physics . In 1976 the Federal Ministry of Research therefore blocked funding for experiments at the FRF-2. After further critical discussions, the Hessian minister of education finally refused the FRF-2's operating license on July 11, 1980. The completed but never operational research reactor had to be shut down and the remaining fuel removed.

The reactor building was subsequently used as an interim storage facility for radioactive waste at the University of Frankfurt. Since the city ​​of Frankfurt wanted to use the site again, the reactor was completely dismantled and removed in 2005 and 2006. On October 30, 2006, the plant was finally released from the scope of the German Atomic Energy Act .

See also

• List of nuclear power plants
• List of nuclear reactors in Germany

Web links

• Research reactor Frankfurt. Hessian Ministry for the Environment, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection, archived from the original on June 23, 2006 ; accessed on March 19, 2018 . 
• Dietrich Roßberg: The Frankfurt Research Reactor (FRF) of the Institute for Nuclear Physics at the University of Frankfurt am Main. (doc) Archived from the original on December 26, 2004 ; accessed on March 19, 2018 . 
• Remaining operation and dismantling of the research reactor facility in Frankfurt (FRF). STEAG, archived from the original on March 23, 2012 ; accessed on March 19, 2018 . 

Footnotes

1. ↑ Realization of the Garching Research Reactor , Technical University of Munich, p. 27
2. ↑ RF Wilson et al .: Aqueous Homogenous Type Research Reactors , Second United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, June 1958, A / CONF.15 / P / 1543, DOI: 10.2172 / 4315502
3. ↑ Nuclear facilities in Germany , Federal Office for Radiation Protection July 2013