Uranium ore processing plant in Ellweiler

View from one of the two remaining heaps of the former factory premises

View of the dump, in the background the Birkenfeld environmental campus

The Ellweiler uranium ore processing plant was built in 1958 as a test facility for the Federal Republic of Germany for the production of the uranium concentrate yellow cake . The commissioning in the Rhineland-Palatinate town of Ellweiler took place in 1961. Later, the operation was continued as a private GmbH of the operating company Brunhilde union .

From 1958 to 1967, uranium ores were extracted in open-cast mining at the “Bühlskopf” north of Ellweiler ( ⊙ ). Ores from the company's own prospecting mine Grube Krunkelbach in the Black Forest were also processed in large quantities, but also waste materials such as contaminated construction waste and earth from the demolition of the Hanau fuel element factory were treated by Nukem . The operating company, the Brunhilde union, had to cease operations in 1989 because the permissible limit values ​​for radon emissions from the spoil dumps were exceeded, and as a result filed for bankruptcy. The company premises were renovated from 1990 to 2000.

Web links

• Peter Diehl: Uranium mining in West Germany In: Citizens' initiative against uranium mining in the southern Black Forest, Citizens' Initiative Oberrothenbach (Hrsg.): Conference proceedings - Conference of citizens' initiatives against uranium mining in Europe. Zwickau 1st to 3rd August 1991.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Uranium factory before the end . In: Der Spiegel . No. 8 , 1990, pp. 14 ( online - February 19, 1990 ).
2. ^ Rehabilitation of the former uranium ore processing plant in Ellweiler. (PDF) Ministry for the Environment, Forests and Consumer Protection Rhineland-Palatinate, accessed on July 19, 2020 . 

Coordinates: 49 ° 37 ′ 5 ″  N , 7 ° 9 ′ 36 ″  E