 After the cabinet reshuffle following the Spiegel scandal, Balke was dismissed from the federal cabinet on December 13, 1962.During Balke's term as Minister for Nuclear Energy, the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) was founded, one of
Germany's largest research centers for particle physics.While Balke's predecessor Franz Josef Strauß focused
his interest on military nuclear technology, Balke was mostly interested in research for civilian purposes.