Changed capacity of uncontaminated solution in the area of Reichelt swamps – Operation not impaired

At a point on the 750-m level where influent solution is monitored, the capacity has increased from 200 l/d on average to about 500 l/d. The collection point is the so-called Reichelt swamps. The brine is not radioactively contaminated. The collected volume of brine is relatively small and does not impair operation.

Fluctuating capacities also observed in the past

Upward swings in capacity at this place as can currently be observed are not new. They were registered several times in the past years. The increases were always linked to operations carried out nearby. The current change is closely monitored in accordance with the usual site surveillance procedures. The Reichelt swamps are located in the north-west of the mine openings at the edge of the former mine working for potash, i.e. nowhere near the emplacement chambers at the southern flank of the Asse mine. Compared with the main collecting point where about 11,000 litres are collected daily, the collected volume in the swamps amounts to one twenty-secondth.

Documentation and measurements only since operation was taken over by the BfS

The so-called Reichelt swamps have been known for a long time. Exact measurements, however, have only existed for a few years. Only after it had taken over operation in 2009, had the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) introduced exact measurements and documentations at the edge of the potash mining field. Since then, reliable data on the measured volume of influent brine has been available.

Origin of the brines

The origin analyses do not provide any reliable data as to where the brines come from originally. It is considered an established fact that the brines stem from the humid material with which the former mining districts in the potash salt were backfilled in the 20s of the last century. An additional inflow from brine bearing layers inside the salt rock cannot be excluded but cannot be proven either.