Current responsibilities

Since 1992 Stefan Hirschberg is Head of the Systems/Safety Analysis Section in the Paul Scherrer Institut. He coordinates the activities at PSI on “Comprehensive Assessment of Energy Systems” (GaBE), covering environmental, risk-related and economic aspects. As a part of these activities he manages a number of projects for the Swiss energy and environmental authorities, and for the Swiss and foreign utilities as well as other industries. He is also responsible for a variety of PSI’s contributions to international programs addressing the environmental, risk and economic implications of energy systems.

In addition, the Systems/Safety Analysis Section has activities in the area of Risk Assessment, with main emphasis on Human Reliability Analysis (HRA). This includes a long-term research program and on-call tasks for the Swiss nuclear safety authority and plant operators.

Selected recent and current project involvements

Within the China Energy Technology Program (CETP) of ABB and the Alliance for Global Sustainability (Japan/Tokyo University, Switzerland/ETH, USA/MIT) S. Hirschberg coordinated PSI’s contributions and was the Principal Investigator for three projects, i.e. Environmental Impact and External Cost Assessment, Risk Assessment, and Development of Integrated Software Tool.

Hirschberg S., Heck T., Gantner U., Lu Y., Spadaro J. V., Krewitt W., Trukenmüller A. and Zhao Y. (2003) Environmental Impact and External Cost Assessment. In: Integrated Assessment of Sustainable Energy Systems in China - The China Energy Technology Program. Book Series: Alliance for Global Sustainability Series: Volume 4, pp. 445-586 (Ed. Eliasson B. and Lee Y. Y.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht/Boston/London.

Hirschberg S., Burgherr P., Spiekerman G., Cazzoli E., Vitazek J. and Cheng L. (2003) Assessment of Severe Accident Risks. In: Integrated Assessment of Sustainable Energy Systems in China - The China Energy Technology Program. Book Series: Alliance for Global Sustainability Series: Volume 4, pp. 587-660 (Ed. Eliasson B. and Lee Y. Y.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht/Boston/London.

Schenler W., Hirschberg S., Dones R. and Lee R. (2003) Comparison and Integration of China Energy Technology Program Tasks. In: Integrated Assessment of Sustainable Energy Systems in China - The China Energy Technology Program. Book Series: Alliance for Global Sustainability Series: Volume 4, pp. 703-728 (Ed. Eliasson B. and Lee Y. Y.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht/Boston/London.

Hirschberg S., Burgherr P., Spiekerman G., Cazzoli E., Vitazek J. & Cheng L. (2003). Comparative Assessment of Severe Accidents in the Chinese Energy Sector - China Energy Technology Program. PSI Report No. 03-04, Villigen-PSI, March 2003
Download PSI Report (1.7 MB)

Hirschberg S., Dones R. et al. Interactive Presentation and Tools. DVD included in: Eliasson B., Lee YY. (eds) Integrated assessment of sustainable energy systems in China. The China Energy Technology Program. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht/Boston/London, 2003.
Guided Tour

Hirschberg S., Heck T., Gantner U., Lu Y., Spadaro J. V., Trunkenmüller A. and Zhao Y. (2004) Health and environmental impacts of China’s current and future electricity supply, with associated external costs. In: Int. J. Global Energy Issues, 22(2/3/4), pp. 155-179.
Download Publication (2.9 MB)

Other recent projects coordinated by S. Hirschberg:

• Evaluation of Sustainability of Electricity Supply Technologies under German Conditions, carried out for the International Committee on Nuclear Technology (ILK).
  Hirschberg, S., Dones, R., Heck, T., Burgherr, P., Schenler, W. & Bauer, C. (2004) Sustainability of Electricity Supply Technologies under German Conditions: A Comparative Evaluation. PSI-Report No.04-15. Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland.
  Download PSI Report (1.8 MB)
  
• New Renewable and New Nuclear Technologies: Potentials and Costs, contribution to Energy Perspectives of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (BFE)
  Hirschberg, S., Bauer, C., Burgherr, P., Biollaz, S., Durisch, W., Foskolos, K., Hardegger, P., Meier, A., Schenler, W., Schulz, T., Stucki, S., Vogel, F. (2005) Neue Erneuerbare Energien und neue Nuklearanlagen: Potenziale und Kosten.PSI-Report No.05-04. Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland.
  Download PSI Report (9.6 MB)
  
• Options for New Swiss Electricity Supply Strategies with Emphasis on Possibilities, Limits and Impacts of Decentralised Energy Supply, research co-operation with the Swiss Association of Producers and Distributors of Electricity (VSE)
  Gantner U., Jakob M. & Hirschberg S. (2001). Perspektiven der zukünftigen Strom- und Wärmeversorgung für die Schweiz - Ökologische und ökonomische Betrachtungen. PSI Report No. 01-12, Villigen-PSI, August 2001.
  Download PSI Report (1.8 MB)
  

S. Hirschberg contributed to recent EU-Projects NewExt and ExternE-Pol on external costs of energy. The focus of his contributions has been on the issue of severe accidents, building on and extending the methodology and database established in earlier works at PSI.

Hirschberg S., Spiekerman G. & Dones R. (1998). Severe Accidents in the Energy Sector. PSI Report No. 98-16, Villigen-PSI, November 1998.
Download PSI Report (2.9 MB)
Download PSI Report Appendices (1.3 MB)

Hirschberg S., Burgherr P., Spiekerman G. & Dones R. (2004). Severe accidents in the energy sector: comparative perspective. Journal of Hazardous Materials 111 (2004) 57-65.
Available at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jhazmat

Currently S. Hirschberg leads the Research Stream “Technology Roadmap and Stakeholder Perspectives” within the EU Integrated Project NEEDS (New Externalities for Sustainable Development). He also coordinates PSI’s contributions to the multi-disciplinary evaluation of future electricity generation technologies, a project of the largest Swiss electrical utility Axpo Holding.

Since the establishment of the Energy-Mirror (Energie-Spiegel), the newsletter of PSI on comprehensive assessment of energy systems, S. Hirschberg is responsible for its content.

Main research interests and engagements

S. Hirschberg’s main research interests currently include: Environmental Impact and External Cost Assessment, Comparative Risk Assessment, Sustainability Assessment and Development of Integrated Tools for Decision Support.
S. Hirschberg has about 150 publications in reactor and neutron physics, reliability and risk assessment and comparative assessment of energy systems. He has been a member of numerous advisory, consultant and expert groups supporting national and international organizations, and is since 1990 a member of Principal Working Group No. 5 on Risk Assessment of OECD/NEA. He was member of technical committees of many international conferences and organiser/chairman of numerous technical sessions. He lectures at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) on “Reliability and Risks of Complex Systems” and at ETHZ and EPFL on energy systems analysis. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management.

Education and previous activities

S. Hirschberg obtained M.Sc. degree in engineering physics from the Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden in 1975 and Ph.D. degree in reactor physics from the same University in 1981. Between 1974 and 1982 he worked as a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Reactor Physics at Chalmers.

In 1982 he joined ABB (Västeras, Sweden) where he worked as Senior Engineer (1982 - 1986), Group Leader (1986 - 1987) and Section Manager (1987 - 1990), responsible for the field of reliability and risk assessment. His work included modeling tasks, methods and computer code development for Probabilistic Safety Assessments (PSAs), management of reliability- and safety-related projects within the nuclear and non-nuclear industries, management of a long-term Nordic research project on methods for handling common cause failures, human interactions and uncertainties in PSA, and marketing of the corresponding services.

During a leave of absence from ABB between 1990 and 1992 he served as First Officer in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA; Vienna, Austria), responsible for the IAEA’s activities in the PSA field. This included: International Peer Review Services (IPERS), Guidelines development, Coordinated Research Programs, technical assistance to the Member States, workshops and training courses in the PSA area..

Contact

Dr. Stefan Hirschberg
Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis
Paul Scherrer Institut
CH-5232 Villigen PSI
Switzerland

Phone.: +41 (0) 56 310 2956 (direct) or +41 (0) 56 310 2740 (Secretary)
Fax: +41 (0) 56 310 4411
E-mail: Stefan Hirschberg