The Institute of Resource Ecology (IRE) is one of the currently eight institutes of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). The research activities are fully integrated into the program “Nuclear Safety Research” of the Helmholtz Association and focused on the topics “Safety of Nuclear Waste Disposal” and “Safety Research for Nuclear Reactors”. With the integration of the division of “Reactor Safety” from the former “Institute of Safety Research” nuclear research at HZDR is now mainly concentrated within this institute. In addition, various activities have been started investigating chemical and environmental aspects of processing and recycling of strategic metals, namely rare earth elements. Here, a knowledge transfer from the nuclear to the non-nuclear community, branching thermodynamics and spectroscopy, has been established. This also strengthens links to the recently established “Helmholtz-Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology”.

The Institute of Resource Ecology (IRE) ISone of the eight institutes of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). The Research activities are mainly integrated into the program “Nuclear Safety Research (NUSAFE)” of the Helmholtz Association (HGF) and focused on the topics “Safety of Nuclear Waste Disposal” and “Safety Research for Nuclear Reactors”. Additionally, various activities have been started investigating chemical and environmental aspects of processing and recycling of strategic metals, namely rare earth elements. These activities are located in the HGF program “Energy Efficiency, Materials and Resources (EMR)”. Both programs, and therefore all work which is done at IRE, belong to the research sector “Energy” of the HGF. The research objectives are the protection of humans and the environment from hazards caused by pollutants resulting from technical processes that produce energy and raw materials. Treating technology and ecology as a unity is the major scientific challenge in assuring the safety of technical processes and gaining their public acceptance. Namely, we investigate the ecological risks exerted by radioactive and non-radioactive metals in the context of nuclear waste disposal, the production of energy in nuclear power plants and in processes along the value chain of metalliferous raw materials. A common goal is to generate better understanding about the dominating processes essential for metal mobilization and immobilization on the molecular level. This in turn enables us to assess the macroscopic phenomena, including models, codes and data for predictive calculations, which determine the transport and distribution of contaminants in the environment.

The Institute of Resource Ecology (IRE) is one of the eight institutes of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden – Rossendorf (HZDR). The research activities are mainly integrated into the program “Nuclear Waste Management, Safety and Radiation Research (NUSAFE)” of the Helmholtz Association (HGF) and focused on the topics “Safety of Nuclear Waste Disposal” and “Safety Research for Nuclear Reactors”...

The Institute of Resource Ecology (IRE) is one of the currently eight institutes of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). The research activities are fully integrated into the program “Nuclear Safety Research” of the Helmholtz Association and focused on the topics “Safety of Nuclear Waste Disposal” and “Safety Research for Nuclear Reactors”. With the integration of the division of “Reactor Safety” from the former “Institute of Safety Research” nuclear research at HZDR is now mainly concentrated within this institute. In addition, various activities have been started investigating chemical and environmental aspects of processing and recycling of strategic metals, namely rare earth elements. Here, a knowledge transfer from the nuclear to the non-nuclear community, branching thermodynamics and spectroscopy, has been established. This also strengthens links to the recently established “Helmholtz-Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology”.

The Institute of Resource Ecology (IRE) ISone of the eight institutes of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). The Research activities are mainly integrated into the program “Nuclear Safety Research (NUSAFE)” of the Helmholtz Association (HGF) and focused on the topics “Safety of Nuclear Waste Disposal” and “Safety Research for Nuclear Reactors”. Additionally, various activities have been started investigating chemical and environmental aspects of processing and recycling of strategic metals, namely rare earth elements. These activities are located in the HGF program “Energy Efficiency, Materials and Resources (EMR)”. Both programs, and therefore all work which is done at IRE, belong to the research sector “Energy” of the HGF. The research objectives are the protection of humans and the environment from hazards caused by pollutants resulting from technical processes that produce energy and raw materials. Treating technology and ecology as a unity is the major scientific challenge in assuring the safety of technical processes and gaining their public acceptance. Namely, we investigate the ecological risks exerted by radioactive and non-radioactive metals in the context of nuclear waste disposal, the production of energy in nuclear power plants and in processes along the value chain of metalliferous raw materials. A common goal is to generate better understanding about the dominating processes essential for metal mobilization and immobilization on the molecular level. This in turn enables us to assess the macroscopic phenomena, including models, codes and data for predictive calculations, which determine the transport and distribution of contaminants in the environment.

The Institute of Resource Ecology (IRE) is one of the eight institutes of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden – Rossendorf (HZDR). The research activities are mainly integrated into the program “Nuclear Waste Management, Safety and Radiation Research (NUSAFE)” of the Helmholtz Association (HGF) and focused on the topics “Safety of Nuclear Waste Disposal” and “Safety Research for Nuclear Reactors”...