SHUTDOWN AND CLEANUP OF THE EAST-GERMAN U RANIUM ORE MINING-INDUSTRY

Between 1946 and 1954. the Wismut corporation was a joint stock compan y run by the Soviet occupation forces on German territory. Its purpose was the extraction of uranium for the Soviet Union, including the del iberate acceptance of the exploitation of the environment this entaile d. After 1954, when the firm had changed into the ownership by two cou ntries, it called itself Sowjetisch-Deutsche Aktiengesellschaft (Sovie t-German Joint Stock Company, SDAG) Wismut. with equal holdings of the Soviet and German partners. Between 1946 and the discontinuation of u ranium mining on December 31, 1990, a total of approx. 220,000 t of ur anium was extracted. This meant third place in world uranium productio n since 1946. In late 1991, the company was changed from SDAG Wismut i nto a private company (GmbH under German law) with the sole purpose of cleaning up the decommissioned uranium ore mining and dressing plants in such a way that pollutants, contaminated soil, water and air, and other damage to the environment will be removed both from the plant pr emises and from associated real estate.