Members of the state parliament of the Greens criticize the standstill of the research reactor in Garching and what they see as a misleading information policy of the Technical University of Munich. For two and a half years, the research neutron source FRM II, which is located in the middle of the research campus of the TU in Garching, has been idle for various reasons.
No neutrons have flowed there since March 17, 2020. In May 2020, an incident from March became known when the radioactive nuclide C14 escaped after an error during cleaning; the amount exceeded the specified annual limit. As a result, the operators had to review the safety concept. After that, a defect in the so-called cold source prevented the reactor from restarting. The central channel currently needs to be replaced. This exchange is difficult. According to the operators, the research reactor is expected to be able to start up again at the beginning of 2024.
The Greens suspect that this long period of standstill has something to do not only with the defective components, but also with the fact that the knowledge about the production of such components was probably not well documented. From the point of view of the opposition politicians, the information policy of the FRM II does not fit in with this old or someone else’s pens,” criticizes Markus Büchler, member of the state parliament for the Greens from Oberschleißheim.
FRM II spokeswoman Anke Görg says that some data are currently being evaluated that were obtained in previous tests at the FRM II. In addition, results would also be presented that would be obtained elsewhere, in which scientists from Garching are involved. The downtime will be used to consider, among other things, how the instruments on the FRM II can be improved. For example, a system is to be installed in the reactor pool that will produce molybdenum 99, a radioisotope that doctors use for the early detection of cancer.
The FRM II is considered one of the most powerful research reactors in Europe. Environmentalists criticize the operators because they still use highly enriched uranium, which is considered potentially weapons-grade.