Karl Wirtz (physicist)

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Karl Eugen Julius Wirtz (born April 24, 1910 in Cologne ; † February 12, 1994 in Karlsruhe ) was a German neutron and reactor physicist .

Life

Wirtz studied physics, chemistry and mathematics at the University of Bonn , the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg and the University of Breslau from 1929 to 1934 . In 1934 he received his doctorate under Clemens Schaefer at the University of Breslau (The ultra-red reflection spectrum of silicates). He was a research assistant at the chair of Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer at the University of Leipzig . During this time he became a member of the National Socialist Teachers' Association (NSLB) , but not a member of the NSDAP. As a NSLB member he was able to attend the Berlin Friedrich Wilhelms University in 1938(today: Humboldt University of Berlin) to do a habilitation .

From 1937 Karl Wirtz worked in Werner Heisenberg's and Petrus Debye's group at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin. In 1938 he completed his habilitation with a thesis on the mechanism of electrolytic hydrogen separation (on the electrolytic production of heavy water ). In 1941 he became a lecturer at the University of Berlin. During the Second World War he took part in the German uranium project (see also Haigerloch research reactor ) and became head of the experimental department there in 1944.

At the age of 35 he was one of ten German scientists interned by the Allies in Operation Epsilon in Farm Hall (southern England) in 1945, together with Otto Hahn , Max von Laue , Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker , Werner Heisenberg, Walther Gerlach , Erich Bagge , Horst Korsching , Kurt Diebner and Paul Harteck . In 1947 he summarized the reactor tests of Haigerloch with Heisenberg for the FIAT Reviews of German Science of the Allies.

After his discharge, he worked from 1946 to 1957 as a department head at the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Göttingen in the field of neutron physics and reactor technology. There he also headed the planning group for reactor construction, to which Rudolf Schulten belonged along with others . He also taught at the University of Göttingen. In April 1957 he signed the Göttingen Manifesto by 18 leading nuclear physicists, which opposed the planned arming of the Bundeswehr with nuclear weapons.

Wirtz played a key role in founding the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center and from 1957 was head of the Institute for Neutron Physics and Reactor Technology in this center as well as a full professor at the University of Karlsruhe . There he led the planning for research reactor 2 , the first nuclear reactor in Germany, which was built according to his own concept and under his own responsibility. He is considered a pioneer and founding father for the peaceful use of nuclear energy in Germany. From 1960 he worked on the development of fast breeder reactors, which should be a focus of his research and that of his institute, and he dealt with safety issues of light water reactors. He supervised more than 130 dissertations. From 1965 to 1967 he was Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center and from 1974 to 1976 Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. In 1979 he retired. 1969 to 1975 he was a regular visiting professor at the University of Washington . He was a member of the German Atomic Energy Commission. From 1972 to 1977 he was on the Presidium of the German Atomic Forum. He advised the federal government on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In 1975 he received the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Wirtz was a fellow of the American Nuclear Society, a member of the Max Planck Society and an honorary member of the German Nuclear Society and the European Nuclear Society. From 1966 to 1968 he was Vice President of the European Atomic Energy Society. Until 1989 he was editor for Europe of the journals Nuclear Science and Engineering , Nuclear Technology and Fusion Technology .

In his honor the Kerntechnische Gesellschaft e. V. (KTG) donated the Karl Wirtz Prize . It is awarded every three years to young scientists or engineers for outstanding scientific achievements in the field of nuclear technology or related disciplines. The prize is intended to promote the progress of science and technology in the field of the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

In addition to nuclear technology, he also dealt with physical chemistry.

Fonts (selection)

  • together with Karl Heinz Beckurts : Elementare Neutronenphysik , Springer, 1958 (English edition Neutron Physics 1964)
  • Atomic energy , 1960
  • Lectures on fast reactors , 1973, 1978
  • together with Karl Winnacker : The misunderstood miracle. Nuclear energy in Germany , 1975
  • In the area of ​​physics , Nuclear Research Center Karlsruhe, 1988 (memories)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wirtz, Heisenberg, large-scale experiments to prepare the construction of a uranium burner, FIAT Review of German Science 1939-1946, Volume 14, Verlag Chemie 1948, pp. 142-165
  2. ↑ Text of the Göttingen Declaration 1957 at uni-goettingen.de
  3. ^ Research Center Karlsruhe GmbH: The KIT - History - Research Center Karlsruhe GmbH
personal data
SURNAME Wirtz, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wirtz, Karl Eugen Julius (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German neutron and reactor physicist
DATE OF BIRTH April 24, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 1994
Place of death Karlsruhe