Rainer Moormann

Rainer Moormann

Rainer Moormann (born 1950) is a German chemist and nuclear whistleblower. He grew up in Osnabrück. After finishing highschool he studied physical chemistry in Braunschweig and received a doctor's degree with Raman spectroscopic and theoretical investigations on hydrogen bonds in liquids.

Since 1976 he had been working at the Forschungszentrum Jülich, doing research on safety problems with pebble bed reactors (especially with the AVR reactor), fusion power and spallation neutron sources.

Papers

In 2008 Moormann published a critical paper on the safety of pebble bed reactors,[1][2] which raised attention among specialists in the field, and managed to distribute it via the media, facing considerable opposition.[3][4]

In 2020, Moormann co-authored a paper that argued in favor of keeping the by then six German nuclear power plants running in order to reduce CO2 emissions.[5]

Whistleblower award

For doing this despite the occupational disadvantages he had to accept as a consequence, Moormann was awarded the whistleblower award of the Federation of German Scientists (VDW)[6] and of the German section of the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms (IALANA).

See also

References

  1. ^ Moormann, Rainer (2008). "A safety re-evaluation of the AVR pebble bed reactor operation and its consequences for future HTR concepts" (PDF). Berichte des Forschungszentrums Jülich. 4275.
  2. ^ Moormann, Rainer (2009). "AVR prototype pebble bed reactor: a safety re-evaluation of its operation and consequences for future reactors". Kerntechnik. 74 (1–2): 8–21. Bibcode:2009Kernt..74....8M. doi:10.3139/124.110001.
  3. ^ Moormann, Rainer (2008). "Fission Product Transport and Source Terms in HTRs: Experience from AVR Pebble Bed Reactor" (PDF). Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations. 2008: 1–14. doi:10.1155/2008/597491. ISSN 1687-6075.
  4. ^ Moormann, Rainer (2011). "Phenomenology of Graphite Burning in Air Ingress Accidents of HTRs" (PDF). Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations. 2011: 1–13. doi:10.1155/2011/589747. ISSN 1687-6075.
  5. ^ Appunn, Kerstine (2021-12-28). "Q&A: Why is Germany phasing out nuclear power and why now?". Clean Energy Wire. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  6. ^ Press statement of the VWD (in German)[permanent dead link‍], official short version in English: http://ialana.net/uploads/media/Program_Whistleblower_Award_2011.pdf, unofficial English translation of the press release: https://euzicasa.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/presentation-of-whistleblower-award-2011_via-hintergrund/
  • [1] PBR safety revisited by Rainer Moormann, Nuclear Engineering International, 1 April 2009