Wismut GmbH has been mandated to meliorate the environmental situation by eliminating or at least reducing the adverse impacts to an acceptable level. The mission of the environmental monitoring is to measure the impact the various liabilities have on the environment as well as to examine the impact remedial action itself has on soil, air, and water. Monitoring is not only performed before and after the completion of remediation works, but also during their implementation.

Wismut GmbH makes a distinction between what is known as basic monitoring and rehabilitation monitoring. Basic monitoring involves long-term monitoring using a network of fixed monitoring locations as well as measurements which have to be regularly performed independently of remedial actions and according to defined methods to monitor the atmospheric and water pathways.

Rehabilitation monitoring involves environmental surveillance during remediation activities. Rehabilitation monitoring is characterised by its operation for a limited period of time and is related to specific objects and/or processes.

Environmental monitoring involves immission and emission measurements of radioactive and non-radioactive parameters.

Objectives

Comprehensive environmental monitoring of Wismut sites has been an essential element of the rehabilitation project right from the outset. The aim of this monitoring is to optimise rehabilitation by the provision of quality-assured data and to document remedial performance. In summary, monitoring objectives may be identified as follows:

Results

The huge amount of data collected makes efficient data management and stringent quality assurance indispensable. Quality-assured data are then stored in a central environmental database. The environmental database is linked to a geographical information system which allows the interpretation, presentation, and goal-oriented analysis of environmental data.