05/04/2026

Closure of the IEER in Washington: the end of a fruitful transatlantic partnership for independent environmental research

Chris Hinkley - stock.adobe.com

In the early 1980s, two men met in the USA who had both dedicated themselves to the critical, scientific examination of nuclear power: Arjun Makhijani, a nuclear engineer from Berkeley, and Bernd Franke, who was conducting research at the ifeu into radioecology and the consequences of nuclear accidents. Against the backdrop of the Cold War and a growing nuclear threat on the one hand, and a newly forming anti-nuclear movement on the other, the meeting was a sign of good things to come. By this time, ifeu was already a key player in the German anti-nuclear movement and had shaped the debate through reports such as the Wyhl Report. United in their determination to campaign for a sustainable, democratic energy future, Arjun Makhijani and Bernd Franke founded the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, or IEER for short, in Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington DC, in 1983. From the outset, the institute, with the motto “Science for Democratic Action”, saw itself as a voice for scientific independence. Its work focused on critical analyses of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons, for example in expert reports for compensation claims against companies in the arms industry. However, it also investigated the consequences of nuclear tests, such as the Rongelap Resettlement Project in the Marshall Islands (mid-1990s), and examined the long-term effects of nuclear contamination. The IEER was pioneering and forward-looking in its tireless promotion of renewable energy and sustainable technologies as alternatives to fossil and nuclear energy sources. The IEER was funded mainly by endowment funds and donations. Despite limited resources, it shaped the international debate through technically sound yet publicly accessible studies.

Even after Bernd Franke left the IEER in 1998, the connection remained close. Arjun Makhijani, now 81, has announced the closure of the IEER. And with it, the end of an era in which joint research projects and socio-political initiatives still brought European and US climate policy together. The IEER and ifeu were, in the best sense of the term, a transatlantic partnership for independent environmental research, which we look back on with a sense of wistfulness given the current tense situation between the US and Europe.

We wish Arjun Makhijani all the best for the future and are certain that we will continue to hear from him even after his active departure from the IEER. Thank you and farewell, Arjun!