Joint statement of the Nuclear Waste Management Commission (ESK) and the Commission on Radiological Protection (SSK) on salt mine Asse II – Recommendations for investigations

With letter of 4 July 2008, BMU charged ESK and SSK with consultations regarding the safety of the Asse II mine. The first of two subquestions of BMU was answered by the “Joint Statement by ESK and SSK on the Asse II Mine – Plausibility Checks of the Data Provided by the Operator”. This statement deals with the second subquestion: Is it necessary to perform supplementing measurements of the contamination in the mine to assess the extent and origin of contamination and the resulting radiation exposures to staff and population?

In this statement, ESK and SSK have compiled boundary conditions and requirements for examinations and measurements. The examinations and measurements refer to the investigation of geo-scientific facts relating to the mine and the overburden and of radiological facts. The geo-scientific facts especially include the stability of the mine, origin and extent of influent saline solutions, and hydrogeology and pathways in the Asse. The radiological facts include the modality of harmful substances being released from the inventories, their migration in the mine, and possibly their discharge and release into the environment, taking also into account the issue what measures and investigations are essential with respect to the derivation of conclusions and to the further proceeding in the Asse mine.