Wismut Wismut
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Wismut Wismut Landscapes designed and preserved Landscapes designed and preserved Imprint Publisher The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Federal Ministry for Economic Energy was awarded the audit berufundfamilie® Affairs and Energy (BMWi) for its family-friendly staff policy. The certificate Public Relations is granted by berufundfamilie gGmbH, an initia- 11019 Berlin tive of the Hertie Foundation. www.bmwi.de Text and editing Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Hanover Wismut GmbH, Chemnitz Design and production PRpetuum GmbH, Munich Status June 2015 Print Silber Druck oHG, Niestetal Illustrations This publication as well as further publications Wismut GmbH; cover photo: Reclaimed waste rock piles can be obtained from: in Bad Schlema Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) This brochure is published as part of the public relations work Public Relations of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. It E-mail: [email protected] is distributed free of charge and is not intended for sale. The www.bmwi.de distribution of this brochure at campaign events or at informa- tion stands run by political parties is prohibited, and political Central procurement service: party-related information or advertising shall not be inserted Tel.: +49 30 182722721 in, printed on, or affixed to this publication.. Fax: +49 30 18102722721 Wismut Landscapes designed and preserved Table of contents Foreword . 3 1 . Wismut uranium ore mining operations in Saxony and Thuringia . 4 2 . Remediation goals and concepts . 9 3 . Engineering services, licensing process, monitoring . 14 4 . Remediation sites . 18 5 . Stewardship sites . 49 6 . Building confidence by providing excellence in remedial design and action . 52 7 . The Wismut heritage collections . 53 8 . Documentation on Wismut corporate history . 54 9 . Summary and outlook . 55 3 Foreword For almost 25 years, the federally-owned Wismut GmbH has been successfully remediating the legacies left behind by former uranium ore mining operations in Saxony and Thuringia. With German reunification in 1990, the Federal Republic of Germany assumed the sole social and financial responsibility for these operations and has provided funds totaling some 6 billion euros. Environmental impacts in the former mining regions have significantly decreased. The remedial activities have mitigated environmental damage and reshaped natural landscapes for the benefit of the people and their region. Remediated areas are used primarily for forestry and agricultural purposes, for tourism and economic development. The accomplish- ments of Wismut GmbH are at the same time an interna- tionally recognized reference project for the rehabilitation of radioactively contaminated industrial sites. This brochure portrays the initial situation and the results achieved thus far in mine decommissioning and remediating former mining areas to prepare them for future reuse. In addition, it provides an overview of the tasks ahead. The presentation of this report is also a token of gratitude to the staff of Wismut GmbH, to their partners and to every- body else involved in the Project for their achievements. Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy 4 1. Wismut uranium ore mining operations in Saxony and Thuringia The legacies left behind by uranium ore mining were gen- 3,000 tonnes of uranium. By the end of uranium ore min- erated by more than 40 years of mining and processing of ing on December 31, 1990, Wismut had produced a total uranium ore in East Germany. As early as 1946, the then of some 231,000 tonnes of uranium, ranking the GDR as Sachsenerz Bergwerke AG started uranium mining from the world’s fourth largest uranium producer after the abandoned mine dumps, adits, and mine pits, under super- USSR, the United States and Canada. vision of units of the Soviet military. To cover reparation claims, the mining companies operating in the Soviet occu- Following German reunification, the Federal Republic of pation zone were transferred into Soviet ownership. Thus, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a transition agree- the Soviet stock company Wismut was founded in 1947. ment on October 9, 1990 under the provisions of which The goal of the undertaking was to provide uranium for SDAG Wismut ceased its operation on January 1, 1991. This the nuclear armament programme of the Soviet Union. put an end to uranium ore mining in Saxony and Thuringia. A large workforce, conscripted from across the Soviet zone of occupation, was forced to work in the uranium mines. In 1990, the environmental situation in the mining districts Uranium mining and processing during that period was was characterised by enormous environmental degradation characterised by bad working conditions, complete disregard affecting a total surface area of some 3,700 hectares, including for nature and the environment, and insensitive encroach- radioactively contaminated mine dumps, tailings ponds, ments on population centres. Whole areas were confiscated and plant areas located within a densely populated region. and turned into prohibited zones: Wismut became a state Past mining activities had marked the mine and mill sites within a state. of Ronneburg, Seelingstädt, Crossen, Schlema, Pöhla, König- stein, and Dresden-Gittersee with their legacy of devastation. In 1954 the German Democratic Republic (GDR) received Uranium mining operations had released radioactive mate- a stake in what had been a purely Soviet stock company up rials into the atmosphere, into soils, and into the hydro- to that time. The company was converted into the Soviet- sphere. More than 300 million cubic metres of waste rock German stock company SDAG Wismut, with both partners material had been brought to the surface and dumped in holding 50 percent of the shares. The basis for this change 48 waste rock piles. Processing uranium ore to yellowcake was an agreement concluded between the governments of had generated more than 160 million cubic metres of tail- the USSR and the GDR of August 22, 1953. This agreement ings sludges containing residual levels of uranium and other was renewed in 1962 and was extended in 1975. contaminants. This situation made it imperative to initiate immediate action in 1990 to eliminate hazardous risks, to Annual uranium production peaked in 1967 at a rate of close mines and pits, and to clean-up and rehabilitate pro- 7,100 tonnes. In 1990, production was still at some duction sites. The national Wismut GmbH – a federal responsibility Under the terms of German unification, ownership of 50 per- cent of the shareholdings of the binational company SDAG Wismut passed to the Federal Republic of Germany. Under the terms of the German-Soviet intergovernmental agree- ment of May 16, 1991, the Soviet shareholdings were also transferred to the German side. As a consequence thereof, the Federal Republic of Germany assumed responsibility for the company as a whole. On December 20, 1991, with the coming into force of the Wismut Act of December 12, 1991, the company SDAG Wismut was changed into Wismut GmbH, a company under German corporate law. Site decommis- sioning and rehabilitation of uranium production legacies Parking lot and pit shafts against a background of waste rock piles at were defined as and remain the company’s key mission and Schlema (c. 1965) corporate purpose. The Federal Republic of Germany is its 1. WISMUT URANIUM ORE MINING OPERATIONS IN SAXONY AND THURINGIA 5 Bad Schlema spa park (2014) only shareholder, represented by the Federal Ministry for When uranium mining was terminated at the end of 1990, Economic Affairs and Energy. there were no ready concepts or plans available to initiate the required pending remediation measures. For this reason, Following the usual practice in countries with planned remedial concepts for all fields of activity had to be devel- economies, the SDAG Wismut company had not set aside oped at short notice. A prerequisite for the development of any financial reserves for future decommissioning and remedial concepts was the assessment of the existing envi- rehabilitation work. As a consequence, the federal govern- ronmental impacts and the establishment of an environ- ment had to allocate sufficient funds for the Wismut mental database. The need for environmental restoration GmbH company to fulfil its mission. and the definition of concrete remediation goals were derived from the analysis of these data. This meant in particular The legal framework for the decommissioning and rehabil- that the various options and alternatives had to be submit- itation work is set forth in the Wismut Act and other rele- ted to a thorough and comprehensive assessment in terms vant regulations, laws and ordinances contained in German of their ecological, economic and social aspects. This opti- mining and radiation protection legislation in particular misation process also comprised considerations regarding as well as in German soil protection and water legislation. the long-term stability and follow-up costs of the various Furthermore, under the provisions of the German unifica- options. Trade-offs between the varied interests were con- tion treaty, two former GDR regulations containing specific ducted in close cooperation with the relevant State super- provisions on the decommissioning of uranium mines vising authorities and through dialogue with municipal (Nuclear Safety and Radiological Protection Ordinance and and district representatives of