Fallout hits research

Abstract

[...]the environment minister in his coalition government, Michaele Schreyer of the Alternative Liste, refused to issue the licence because of the lack of permanent storage space for the radioactive waste produced by the reactor (see Nature 346, 405; 1990.) According to West Berlin Senate spokesman Werner Kolhoff, West Berlin is already overburdened by the costs of reunification and could not afford the DM100 million a year that would be required to keep HMI open if Bonn pulls out. Researchers in unrelated fields such as solar cell development who are contemplating moving to HMI are bound to be influenced by the worries about the institute's future, says Robertson.