The AKR training reactor of the University of Technology Dresden and its experimental programme for education

The training and research reactor AKR (from the German Ausbildungskernreaktor) of the University of Technology Dresden was put into operation in the late 1970s, i.e. at a time when experts in Western and Eastern European countries expected an extensive development of nuclear energy generation. In the eastern part of Germany, i.e. the former German Democratic Republic, a 70 MW(el) WWER nuclear power plant (NPP) was in operation at Rheinsberg since 1966. A further five NPPs of the Russian WWER type (440 MW(e)) were put into operation at Greifswald on the Baltic Sea coast between 1973 and 1989. Three more plants were under construction at that site. At the end of the 1980s, a new NPP was being planned at Stendal, a 1000 MW(e) WWER plant. For construction, licensing, operation and maintenance of these NPPs, a well educated and trained staff was required. Authorities and technical surveillance organizations should have qualified experts at their disposal, too. Consequently, in 1968 the University of Technology Dresden introduced appropriate courses for the education of nuclear engineers in order to contribute to fulfilling the demands of industry, science and administration. Students were taught in lectures, but theoretical knowledge had to be combined with practical experience based on an extensive programme of fundamental experiments in the fields of reactor physics, neutron physics, nuclear technology, radiation measurement techniques, radiation protection, radiation dosimetry and others. The full scale of this experimental programme can preferably be made available by small training reactors which can be operated with great diversity in terms of experimental intentions and without commercial restrictions