16
groundwater. Near tailings piles, water samples have shown levels of some contaminants at hundreds of times the government’s acceptable level for drinking water. In
situ leach mining leaves the unusable portion in the ground; it does not generate this
form of waste. However, there is a danger of the contamination of underground
water.
The town of Jáchymov soon after World War II became one of the Soviet Union’s
main suppliers of uranium for its nuclear weapons programme. In Germany, the
USSR considered uranium mining a form of reparation. At that time, Wismut on the
German side of the Ore Mountains employed at one time almost 500,000 people in
various uranium mining activities.
Most of uranium ore used for the production of USSR nuclear weapons and fuel
for nuclear power plants in the former Eastern Bloc was mined in East Germany
(GDR) and former Czechoslovakia. The total production of uranium ore in GDR
from 1946 to 2012 was 219,626 tU (tonnes of uranium). In Czechoslovakia, the
total uranium production from 1945 to 2017 was 112,250 tU (René 2018).
The waste from the uranium enrichment process is called depleted uranium
because most of
235
U was extracted from it. Depleted uranium found its use by the
military, where at high impact speed, the density, hardness and pyrophoricity of the
projectile enable the destruction of heavily armoured targets (Claussen et al. 2012).
2.5 World Production of Uranium
At present, uranium ore is mined in about 20 countries worldwide. Most uranium
comes from Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia, the production of which accounts
for more than 60% of world output (Fig. 15) (WNA 2018b). The largest known
Fig. 14 Individual basic
phases of the complete
uranium nuclear fuel cycle
J. Sabol
groundwater. Near tailings piles, water samples have shown levels of some contaminants at hundreds of times the government’s acceptable level for drinking water. In
situ leach mining leaves the unusable portion in the ground; it does not generate this
form of waste. However, there is a danger of the contamination of underground
water.
The town of Jáchymov soon after World War II became one of the Soviet Union’s
main suppliers of uranium for its nuclear weapons programme. In Germany, the
USSR considered uranium mining a form of reparation. At that time, Wismut on the
German side of the Ore Mountains employed at one time almost 500,000 people in
various uranium mining activities.
Most of uranium ore used for the production of USSR nuclear weapons and fuel
for nuclear power plants in the former Eastern Bloc was mined in East Germany
(GDR) and former Czechoslovakia. The total production of uranium ore in GDR
from 1946 to 2012 was 219,626 tU (tonnes of uranium). In Czechoslovakia, the
total uranium production from 1945 to 2017 was 112,250 tU (René 2018).
The waste from the uranium enrichment process is called depleted uranium
because most of
235
U was extracted from it. Depleted uranium found its use by the
military, where at high impact speed, the density, hardness and pyrophoricity of the
projectile enable the destruction of heavily armoured targets (Claussen et al. 2012).
2.5 World Production of Uranium
At present, uranium ore is mined in about 20 countries worldwide. Most uranium
comes from Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia, the production of which accounts
for more than 60% of world output (Fig. 15) (WNA 2018b). The largest known
Fig. 14 Individual basic
phases of the complete
uranium nuclear fuel cycle
J. Sabol