Selection of our Projects

We work on around 450 projects every year. This involves a lot of knowledge, experience and team spirit.

We have compiled a selection of projects from our subject areas of reactor safety, decommissioning and dismantling, storage, disposal, safety, radiation protection and environment and energy, so that you can get an idea of what our work as a research and expert organisation looks like in concrete terms.

Results 1 to 10 from total 44
Stacheldrahtzaun vor nuklearer Zone
Small Modular Reactors – Physical protection and computer security must be thought through at the right time
2022 - 2023

Many countries expect Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to play their part in helping them become less dependent on fossil fuels for electricity generation. However, most SMR concepts are still at different stages of development. While safety aspects already play a role from the first sketches of ideas, security measures (required protection against malicious acts) are often only given a secondary role. Therefore, in a research project that has just started, GRS is dealing with the characteristics of physical protection and computer security of different SMR concepts and to what extent security requirements and concepts of conventional nuclear facilities can be applied to SMRs. In this way, GRS wants to build up expertise and identify open questions in the application of existing rules and regulations.

Physical Protection
Karlsruher Nuklidkarte
A tool for use in repository research: Open Source Code Radi calculates decay chains of radioactive materials
2022 - 2023

Repository researchers use simulation software to draw a picture of the future of a repository system. How precise and realistic the forecast is depends largely on the input data used for the calculations. The Radi simulation code developed by GRS calculates the decay chains of the radioactive materials from the stored waste. It answers the question of how much 'radioactivity' is still present after a certain period of time and thus forms the basis for further simulations.

Disposal
Hafen von Beirut
Supporting Lebanon for a safe management of radiation sources
2021 - 2023

On 4 August 2020, a devastating explosion occurred in the port of Beirut, the cause of which was the improper storage of chemicals. After Germany had already supported Lebanon in the management of chemicals in the aftermath of this explosion, the Lebanese authorities approached Germany with an additional request for support in the retrieval and safe storage of radioactive waste. Within the framework of a cooperation project funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV), the responsible Lebanese authorities are supported by experts from the BMUV and an interdisciplinary GRS team from the departments Radiation Protection and Security.

Storage
Quecksilber: Kleine Tropfen aus flüssigem Quecksilber liegen auf einem silbernen Untergrund
Hazardous chemicals: Revision of the Mercury Regulation
2021 - 2023

Mercury is toxic. Nevertheless, this heavy metal is used all over the world in a wide variety of products. In the EU, 40 tonnes of mercury are processed every year for the production of amalgam for dental fillings alone. The EU Commission now wants to further restrict its use. Scientists at GRS have supported them in these efforts and explored the possibilities.

Environment and Energy
Verzehrstudie
Radioactive materials in food: Researchers determine consumption levels of food groups of radiological interest
2021 - 2022

Carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, vitamins and water are among the nutrients that the human metabolism needs to live. Natural or artificial radioactive materials also find their way into food in various ways. In order to calculate the radiation dose, the quantities of certain food consumed are used. Researchers at GRS have analysed consumption studies and recorded the quantities of different food groups consumed in Germany according to region and age.

Radiation Protection
Mit Wasser gefülltes Trinkglas steht in einem Fluss
Traces of radiation – GRS develops database on radionuclides in drinking water
2020 - 2022

In the project, the GRS research team developed a central database for all information on water supply facilities in Germany that is relevant for radiation protection.

Radiation Protection
Szene in einem Interventionsraum
Improving radiation protection in interventional radiology
2020 - 2023

With the help of interventional radiology, certain medical procedures can be carried out in a minimally invasive manner that would previously have required surgery. Specific examples of such procedures include narrowed coronary arteries, which can trigger coronary heart disease or even a heart attack, certain tumours, or strokes. As ionising radiation is generally used for imaging, the radiation exposure of the medical personnel involved has risen steadily over the years in line with the number of such procedures. In order to improve understanding of the distribution of radiation in the room and thus reduce radiation exposure, GRS scientists have produced a training video and a calculation tool as part of a research project funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment.

Radiation Protection
Forschungsreaktor FRM auf dem Forschungscampus Garching bei München
Research on operation of research reactors
2020 - 2023

Research reactors differ considerably in design and use from commercial reactors in nuclear power plants. GRS researchers are looking at how these differences affect the safety of research reactors.

Reactor Safety
Virus fliegt in einem Aerosol-Tröpfchen durch die Luft
AeroCoV - Predicting infection routes of SARS-CoV-2 aerosols in indoor environments
2020 - 2021

In the current Covid 19 pandemic, airborne aerosols that contain viruses are considered to be an important transmission route, especially in insufficiently ventilated rooms. To be able to make a sound assessment of the related risk of infection and to derive appropriate recommendations for action, the aerosol behaviour as well as representative ambient conditions must be considered in detail and realistically. Within the framework of the AeroCoV research project, scientists of GRS have applied the COCOSYS simulation code – which was developed and validated for the analysis of accidents and severe accidents in containments of nuclear power plants – for the first time for calculating the dispersion of SARS-CoV-2 aerosols.

Environment and Energy
Entnahme einer Gasprobe
Thermal integrity of clay and claystone – experiment and coupled THMC simulations
2020 - 2021

Claystone, salt rock or granite – it is in one of these three host rocks that a repository for high-level radioactive waste is to be constructed in Germany. This is where the waste is to be safely contained for one million years. In a current project carried out in GRS's geoscientific laboratory, research is being conducted into how the properties of claystone formations are changed by the waste emplaced.

Disposal
Results 1 to 10 from total 44