Needs and

Assistance which can be providedChristian Kunze

WISUTEC Wismut Umwelttechnik GmbH

ENVIRONET Kick-Off MeetingVienna, 23 – 27 November 2009

WISUTEC• Subsidiary of state-owned Wismut to make German

remediation know-how available internationally– Radiation Protection– Water treatment (passive, in particular)– Tailings and mining waste remediation (cover systems etc.)– Regulatory support– Site investigation and monitoring (air, water, dust, dosimetry)– Community involvement– Training, Know-how transfer

Regions of activity• Russia/CIS• Estonia• Central Asia

– Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan– Other “…stans” and Mongolia

• Southern Africa – Zambia, – Namibia, – South Africa

• Central/Eastern Europe and Balkans– Romania, Bulgaria– Ex-Yugoslavia

• Western Europe (Portugal Norway)

Needs• To learn more about practice in other regions – Technical approaches under financial constraints– Other Regulatory approaches

• To learn what is considered best practice in other regions of the world– Extend our own horizon– Compile this knowledge and in turn make it

available to others

Assistance: Technical sphere• Oil/gas, Thorium, other NORM sites and Uranium• Pre-remediation monitoring

– Understanding what happens (and will happen) helps to spend resources wisely

– Particularly true for long-term processes• Water treatment (mines, tailings, waste rock)• Cover systems (test plots!)

• Simple and practicable toolkit for site investigation– Practical experience of what works and what not– Communication with operators

• Dose assessment methodology (BMU 99 Guideline, now updated)• Transport, disposal and long-term management practice

– NORM and uranium mining waste are not Radioactive Waste– Can be (and is) handled similar to conventional industrial waste

• Monitoring– Training and Know-how transfer on real sites

Assistance: Regulatory sphere• Austria and Germany have developed very advanced

regulatory system for handling of NORM (including remediation)

• Regulations are very practicable– Matching regulatory and industry needs– Developed similar regulations (with national variations!) in

9 other European countries• Training and consulting for governments and

regulatory authorities– E.g., Uranium closure manual for Romania– Training for AELB Malaysia– IAEA courses in Southern Africa (Namibia etc.)

Assistance: Community sphere• Remediation must take community needs into account– Define remediation objectives– Mining Waste Directive (2006/21/EC): “restore the land to

a satisfactory state with particular regard to (…) appropriate beneficial uses”

• Performance of remediation measures critically depends on what people want to (and will) do with a site

• Wismut project and many others of our projects owe their success to intense communication with all stakeholders and communities in particular