Risø

Facts

Nuclear testing and sustainability

By Flemming Petersen, Museumsinspektør, cand. mag. (4 stories)

In 1955, the Danish government set up the Danish Atomic Energy Commission, chaired by the renowned physicist Niels Bohr. One of the Commission's tasks was to establish the Risø nuclear research facility, which was officially opened in 1958. The facility consisted of three research reactors and office and laboratory buildings. Risø was a major government investment for its time. The facility was to create industrial technology through nuclear research and, ideally, a Danish nuclear reactor. But backing from industry and the utilities sector was not forthcoming. When nuclear power was abandoned in national energy planning in 1985, Risø turned to research into sustainable energy.

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Pride of Denmark

Story written by Flemming Petersen

Time / Periode 1955

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The Danish Atomic Energy Commission laid down two criteria for the siting of the new nuclear research facility in 1955: to ensure the recruitment and retention of qualified personnel, it was not to be located too far away from Copenhagen. It was also not to be located too close to any urban areas, since the new nuclear research facilities were to be surrounded by a security zone. The choice fell on the Risø peninsula near Roskilde. Risø was purchased and rapidly converted into Denmark's new research institution. When foreign heads of state visited Denmark after it opened in 1958, a visit to Risø and Niels Bohr was a standard item on the official programme. In 1985, the facility took the name Risø National Laboratory. In 2007, Risø merged with the Technical University of Denmark and changed its name to Risø DTU National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy.