The Nuclear Threat

The nuclear threat comes from two directions. Firstly, as a result of a possible catastrophe, a maximum conceivable accident that can be assumed, in the peaceful use of nuclear power for energy supply. Secondly, from a likely military escalation to nuclear war. As different as both scenarios are, the consequences can be similarly devastating. In addition, there is the yet unresolved question of "where to dispose of radioactive waste". This question is still unresolved, not only in Germany, but around the globe.
 
Nevertheless, a renaissance of nuclear power is imminent for several reasons. New mini-reactors promise energy right where it is needed - and big money for investors. The commercial exploitation of nuclear fusion is on the verge of a breakthrough. So far, all nuclear reactors have "only" worked with nuclear fission. Nuclear fusion, which is many times more powerful, has so far only been used in two places: in the sun and other stars, and in atomic bombs. Moreover,  there is the foreseeable use of nuclear power in the forthcoming conquest of space, for example to supply energy to settlements on the moon and Mars. Above all, the Damocles sword of military use is hovering in the face of new types of weapons from drones with artificial intelligence and killer satellites in space. The escalation of the conflicts between the United States of America, Russia and China makes the nuclear threat as topical today as it was during the Cold War.

Marc Ruberg, a nuclear physicist and computer scientist, is one of the early pioneers of the internet and nuclear power alike. He combines the scientific curiosity essential for any professional researcher with a firm knowledge of the inherent dangers of progress. This applies to both nuclear power and digitalisation. At the Physikalisches Institut  at the University of Tübingen and at the Institute of Radiation Physics at the University of Stuttgart, Marc Ruberg belonged to a small circle of German nuclear physicists who intensively studied the promises and pitfalls of nuclear energy, particularly at an early stage. To this end, he had also gained insights at CERN (Conseil européen pour la recherche nucléaire), the European Organisation for Nuclear Research in Geneva, and at  the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt.