Visit from the city of Ahaus

The spent fuel elements of the FRM II are to be transported to the Ahaus interim storage facility of the federally owned Gesellschaft für Zwischenlagerung (BGZ). A political delegation from the North Rhine-Westphalian city of Ahaus has now visited the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Research Neutron Source (FRM II) and the City of Garching for the first time for an exchange.

A guided tour of the Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) by FRM II directors Dr. Axel Pichlmaier (back left) and Prof. Dr. Peter Müller-Buschbaum (3rd from left) was given to: Ahaus Mayor Karola Voß (seated front right), First Alderman Manuel Benning (left) with eight council members, and Garching Mayor Dietmar Gruchmann (back, 2nd from left) with Business Manager Sylvia May (front, 3rd from left). © FRM II / TUM

A guided tour of the Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) by FRM II directors Dr. Axel Pichlmaier (back left) and Prof. Dr. Peter Müller-Buschbaum (3rd from left) was given to: Ahaus Mayor Karola Voß (seated front right), First Alderman Manuel Benning (left) with eight council members, and Garching Mayor Dietmar Gruchmann (back, 2nd from left) with Business Manager Sylvia May (front, 3rd from left). © FRM II / TUM

After presentations by the two directors of the research neutron source, Prof. Dr. Peter Müller-Buschbaum for science and Dr. Axel Pichlmaier for the operation of FRM II, the city representatives from Ahaus and Garching were given an exclusive insight into the inner workings of the research reactor. In addition to the two scientific halls, a visit to the reactor pool was not to be missed.

Platform for exchange
Ahaus Mayor Karola Voß and First Alderman Manuel Benning thanked FRM II for the invitation. Together with them, seven council members of the CDU city council fraction with their fraction chairman, Dr. Michael Räckers, and the non-fraction council member Reinhard Horst from the voters’ association Lebenswertes Ahaus had arrived. BGZ representatives from Ahaus also participated in the guided tours, the presentations, and the discussion. Mayor Dr. Dietmar Gruchmann and business manager Sylvia May from the city of Garching were “happy about this platform for dialogue with science and the city of Ahaus.”

The city councilors, mayor, and her alderman asked many questions about the research at the FRM II and the planned transports. “We are concerned that further emplacement of highly radioactive waste will increasingly turn Ahaus from an interim storage facility into a final storage facility,” Karola Voß explained.

City of Garching stands behind FRM II
In the evening, the delegation from Ahaus had the opportunity to exchange views with representatives of the FRM II, BGZ, and some Garching city council members at the Gasthof Neuwirt in Garching.
Mayor Dietmar Gruchmann made clear in a short speech that Garching stands behind the FRM II. The atomic egg is the nucleus of the research campus and is in the city emblem of Garching. “We trust the commissioned scientists to handle the necessary fuel elements very responsibly,” Mayor Gruchmann confirmed the positive tenor of the cooperation.

Mutual understanding has grown
Axel Pichlmaier, who, like several colleagues from the FRM II, has already been to discussion events organized by the city of Ahaus, expressed his thanks for the return visit from Ahaus: “The enthusiasm of the participants was obvious. Nevertheless, the guests will not welcome our castors enthusiastically, but mutual understanding has certainly grown somewhat due to this visit.”