ECONOMICAL, LEGAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES RELATING TO THE PROGRAM FOR DECOMMISSIONING THE GERMAN WISMUT URANIUM MINES AND MILLS

摘要

One of the world's largest uranium mining districts is located in the German states of Saxony and Thuringia. In 45 years of intense mining efforts, 220,000 metric tonnes of uranium were produced. This corresponds to approximately 13% of the world's post-war production. The legacy of this huge strategic mining operation is widespread damage to the environment and to humans. Financed by the federal budget and administered by the German Ministry of Economics (BMWi), the national WISMUT Corporation is now carrying out an internationally unique decommissioning and rehabilitation program. The aim is to reduce the threat to the environment to a minimum, to implement an ecologically difficult shutdown of underground and surface mining facilities, and to decontaminate former mining sites for suitable reuse. The results of nearly five years of rehabilitation work show that substantial progress has been achieved. Nevertheless, the project is subject to permanent crossfire in the political arena, mainly due to the wide public interest in issues focusing on the danger of radiation to the environment.