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Proposal of Training Role for Atominstitut
TRIGA Reactor
Practical Courses
Theoretical Course

In March 1962 the 250 kW TRIGA Mark II research reactor was officially set into operation and thus the Atominstitute of the Austrian Universities was officially opened. This was a major boost for the capacity of the Austrian universities in the areas of research and student training. These opportunities enabled many of our graduates to seek notable careers in Austria or abroad. The initial focus on nuclear related physics has been widened considerably over the years through changes in the boundary conditions and shifts of students' interest.

This is reflected in the 7 primary areas of research carried out at the Institute:

• Electron- and X-Ray Physics
  
• Nuclear Physics and Nuclear Astrophysics
  
• Nuclear Technology, EDV, Electronics
  
• Neutron and Solid State Physics
  
• Radiochemistry
  
• Radiation Protection, Dosimetry
  
• Low Temperature Physics, Superconductivity

Work in these areas is facilitated by the use of the research reactor, by a 2 MeV Van de Graff accelerator and X-ray instruments as well as by low temperature and chemistry laboratories. The international co-operations with the following institutions should be emphasised: the Institute Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, the ISIS spallation source in England, the synchrotron radiation facilities at DESY in Hamburg, at SSRL in Stanford, ESRF in Grenoble and BESSY2 in Berlin and especially the IAEA in Vienna.

The instrumental equipment at the Institute serves as an indispensable homebase for these cooperations. The technical condition of the reactor and the available fuel rods would allow many more years of operation. As a result of the decommissioning of the 10 MW ASTRA reactor at the research centre Seibersdorf the demand for use of the irradiation facilities at the TRIGA reactor has significantly increased.

As of December 31st, 2003 the Atomic Institute of the Austrian Universities had 28 university positions available for scientific personnel and 31 for non-scientific personnel. On top of that, 27 project funded research assistants, 47 doctoral students and 27 diploma students belonging to the Institute contribute decisively to the scientific output and atmosphere.

The Atomic Institute of the Austrian Universities is part of the Vienna University of Technology. Within the framework of interdisciplinary, international and inter-university objectives the Institute is partner to all Austrian universities and proudly notes the large number of co-operations and the interest of students and postdocs from nearly all Austrian universities and from other countries.

The broad spectrum of research interests present at the Institute includes experimental and theoretical nuclear physics, low temperature physics, nuclear and radiation medicine, x-ray physics, radio- and geochemistry, archeometry, environmental analysis, and radiation protection. This provides a fertile base for internal and external co-operations and also for broad research based teaching and training. A consciously furthered bottom-up structure guarantees the evolutionary development of current and upcoming research interests. In addition to the many specific teaching commitments - lectures, seminars, and practical exercises - the Institute follows many interdisciplinary and publicly oriented activities, as for instance seminars and exercises on reactor safety, radiation protection, application of radiation physics in technology and medicine, archeometry, synoptical aspects of environmental problems, radionuclide determination in environmental samples, and radioactivity and nuclear energy in environment and technology. Recently the number of international training courses in reactor physics, reactor kinetics and reactor instrumentation has increased and during the past two years several such courses were carried out for the NPP staff Bohunice and Mochovce (Slovak Republic), for the Gesellschaft für Reaktorsicherheit (Germany) and for Safeguard Trainees of the IAEA.

In addition the Atominstitute carries out a number of research contracts for the IAEA especially in the field of development of safeguard instruments and prevention of illicit trafficking, further it offers its facilities for the storage of nuclear material and for the calibration and test of safeguard instruments.

About 2500 people, mostly secondary school pupils, take part in guided tours through the Institute every year. This can also be seen as a positive contribution to inform the public about the work performed at the Institute and the need for scientific research. The number and quality of graduates and scientific publications as well as the careers of graduates and members of a research and teaching institution may be taken as an essential measure for its efficiency.