Radiation protection at a mine. Requirements for plant fire departments and mine rescue teams

The Asse II mine in Lower Saxony is an old salt mine in which around 126,000 packages of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste were emplaced from 1967 to 1978. The mine has an influx of salt solutions, so in 2010 it was decided to rule out long-term safety risks by retrieving the waste. The waste is stored in large underground chambers, most of which have been sealed for decades. In these so-called emplacement chambers, liquid, gas formation, contamination and other risks are to be expected. For this reason, too, an investigation of the chambers - fact-finding - has preceded the actual salvage operation. This relates primarily to a drilling exploration of two chambers. The work requires a permit in accordance with § 9 of the Atomic Energy Act. The prerequisite for a license is the necessary measures to achieve the protection goals. Accordingly, the risk of releases in case of fires has to be minimized and the responsible fire brigades have to be trained in such a way that they are able to cope with the tasks in case of an incident (fire, etc.) in a mine area with a licensing notice according to § 9 AtG. This case is so far unique in Germany. Thus, a special training program for the fire department and underground fire department of the Asse II mine was developed and carried out by the radiation protection department in accordance with the requirements of the licensing conditions.