Kern- und Radiochemie in den USA

Nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry are very young sciences which developed at an extremely brisk pace within a very short period of time after the discovery of nuclear fission in 1938, and caused profound societal changes. In the United States, nuclear chemistry developed very differently from Germany, where nuclear research initially had been banned after the Second World War. The prime mover in the development in the United States was the Manhattan Project, the construction of the atomic bomb. To counteract the impending shortage of qualified personnel, important institutions have begun to establish training and support programs in the field. The National Laboratories in the United States introduced a National Security Internship Program, while the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) tries to promote cooperation, and thus the training of personnel, by launching programs of its own. Yet, a greater shortage of qualified personnel is becoming apparent. The situation of nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry in the United States can be summarized in the finding that research at the National Laboratories is very wide ranging. It receives sufficient funds from the DOE. However, the National Laboratories show a very high proportion of elderly personnel, a problem which will have to be corrected in the years to come. This may be helped by the Summer Schools financed by the DOE, though a summer school of six weeks cannot replace a sound training in nuclear chemistry of the kind still to be found in Germany.