Annual General Meeting of KTG and the German Atomic Forum takes place in Hamburg.

Every May since 1980, the Annual General Meeting on Nuclear Technology (Jahrestagung Kerntechniek) has been organized by the Kerntechnische Gesellschaft e.V. (KTG) and the Deutsches Atomforum e.V. (DAtF). Each AGM has taken place at a different city in Germany.

This year’s meeting, which was held from May 27 to 29, in Hamburg, was attended by nearly 1400 participants from 23 countries. They included politicians and representatives from industry, science, and the research community.

In his welcome address, the president of the Deutsches Atomforum, Dr. Walter Hohlefelder, underlined that the special approach adopted by Germany with regards to nuclear energy will lead to an impasse that will hold up the progress of German energy policy.

Herlind Gundelach, president of the Office for Science and Research of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, and Joost de Jager, Secretary of State for Science at the Ministry of Science, Economy, and Transport (Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel) gave opening addresses on behalf of the host city.

Presentations were then made by Ulrich Gräber, AREVA NP GmbH, Erlangen; Dr. Hans-Josef Zimmer, EnBW Energie, Baden-Württemberg AG, Karlsruhe; Fang Chun Fa, Daya Bay Nuclear Power Operations and Management Co. Ltd., Shenzhen, PR China; Osamu Maekawa, Power Systems Company, Toshiba Corporation, Japan; Dennis R. Spurgeon, Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy, Washington D.C., USA and Guido Rettig, TÜV Nord e.V. and VdTÜV, Hanover.

The traditional guest lecture was given by Professor Dr. Albrecht Wagner of Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg. The subject of his speech was The European X-Ray Laser XFEL.

The plenary session concluded with a word on behalf of the KTG chapter of the Young Generation Nuclear from Cora Fischer, and by a closing speech from KTG Chairman, Dr. Peter Fritz.

This year, within the framework of the Jahrestagung Kerntechnik, another nuclear energy campus was organized for young nuclear researchers. Six “technical expert sessions” were also organised by the KTG Expert Groups. Furthermore, a total of 49 companies had stands at the accompanying exhibition.

After the meeting a concert was given by Camerata Nucleare.

All the presentations given at the Jahrestagung Kerntechnik will be published in the Forum's magazine, ATW. In the meantime, all presentations can be downloaded from the following web address: www.kernenergie.de/r2/en.

The 2009 Annual General Meeting on Nuclear Technology will take place in Dresden, from May 12-14.

Joachim U. Knebel – KTG