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For many years there have been reports of radioactive caesium-137 (Cs-137) that is sometimes detected in large quantities in mushrooms and wild boar, especially in regions of southern Germany. Just in time for the start of the mushroom season, there have again been more reports of this in recent weeks. Where does the substance come from and why is it still detectable in larger quantities in mushrooms and wild boar, while it is decreasing overall in the ecosystem?
In the "cold shutdown" state, as in the "hot shutdown" state, the reactor is subcritical, i.e. no nuclear fission takes place.
In the "hot shutdown" state, as in the "cold shutdown" state, the reactor is subcritical, i.e. no nuclear fission takes place.
Currently, a total of 27 nuclear power plants and 6 research reactors are being decommissioned in Germany. But how does decommissioning actually work? What procedures are there? Who is involved and who is responsible? What are the challenges involved? The following dossier explores these questions.
Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) gGmbH
With the help of interventional radiology, certain medical procedures can be carried out in a minimally invasive manner that would previously have required surgery. 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.
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.
More than 30 pressurised water reactors of the Russian or Soviet VVER (water-water-energy reactor) type are currently in operation in Eastern and Central Europe, and several new plants are under construction. Mochovce-3, for example, started commercial operation in Slovakia in October 2023. Not least the war in Ukraine and the fact that the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant (NPP) became the theatre of war have shown that technical knowledge about this type of plant is still needed in Germany too, e.g. to be able to assess any risks. Experts at GRS are therefore involved in numerous research projects on VVER reactors, including international ones.
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.