SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT THE WORK OF KTG

The Kerntechnische Gesellschaft (KTG) in Germany recognizes outstanding achievements in the promotion of nuclear technology by annually awarding an honorary membership. KTG Chairman Jurgen Knorr presented Hermann Kramer, Executive Board member of Veba AG, with the certificate of honorary membership in a ceremony in Bonn on October 27, 1994. In his speech, the new Honorary Member commented upon the work of the Kerntechnische Gesellschaft. He regretted the fundamental change in the high degree of public recognition the nuclear community had enjoyed for many years. In his opinion, people were forgetting that the discovery and development of nuclear power was one of the great achievements of science, and also failed to grasp the economic importance of nuclear power to the German economy for Germany as an industrialized country. Among the most important goals to be pursued in the years to come, in his view is the continued operation of current nuclear installations. Care was to be taken to ensure that they did not lose their competitive edge in the growing maze of government regulation. It was also important to maintain a perspective for the future. Consequently, work on an advanced pressurized water reactor was of major significance. In the Federal Republic of Germany, nuclear power stood a chance for a foreseeable time only if it was embedded in international cooperation.