Nukem Energy GmbH, with its subsidiary Nukem Inc., markets

nuclear fuel Nuclear fuel refers to any substance, typically fissile material, which is used by nuclear power stations or other atomic nucleus, nuclear devices to generate energy. Oxide fuel For fission reactors, the fuel (typically based on uranium) is ...

products worldwide. Since it was founded in 1960, Nukem has transitioned from a uranium brokerage to one of the world's largest intermediaries in the international nuclear fuel market.

History

Nukem was established in 1960 by Degussa, Rio Tinto and

Mallinckrodt Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals plc is an American-Irish domiciled manufacturer of specialty pharmaceuticals (namely, adrenocorticotropic hormone), generic drugs and imaging agents. In 2017, it generated 90% of its sales from the U.S. healthcare s ...

. In 1965,

RWE RWE AG is a German multinational energy company headquartered in Essen. It generates and trades electricity in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the United States. In July 2020, RWE completed a far-reaching asset swap deal with E.ON first ...

acquired 25% of shares. Effective April 1, 2006, the

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm

Advent International Advent International Corporation is an American global private equity firm. It is focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strat ...

has taken over Nukem. In 2007, Nukem sold its subsidiaries NUKEM Ltd. to Freyssinet SAS, NUKEM Corp. to

EnergySolutions EnergySolutions (stylized as Energy''Solutions''), headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of the largest processors of low level waste (LLW) in America, making it also one of the world's largest nuclear waste processors. It was formed in 2 ...

, NIS Ingenieure and Assistance Nucleaire S.A. to Siempelkamp. On 14 December 2009, Nukem sold its subsidiary Nukem Technologies, which is dealing with nuclear power plant decommissioning, waste management and engineering services, to Russian

Atomstroyexport Atomstroyexport (ASE) JSC () is the Russian Federation's nuclear power equipment and service exporter. It is a fully owned subsidiary of Rosatom. Organization Atomstroyexport, along with Atomenergoprom, is part of Rosatom's ''Engineering Divi ...

for €23.5 million. In 2012, Nukem's nuclear fuel products and services trading and brokerage company, Nukem Energy GmbH, was acquired by

Cameco Cameco Corporation (formerly Canadian Mining and Energy Corporation) is the world's largest publicly traded uranium company, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 2015, it was the world's second largest uranium producer, accounting for 18 ...

Operations

The company markets nuclear fuel components to utilities in North and South America, Western Europe and the Far East.

Transnuklear

Transnuklear (TN) GmbH was founded in 1966 as a subsidiary of Nukem and had been responsible for the transportation of nuclear fuel in West Germany until its operating licenses were suspended. In the 1980s, illegalities occurred in the transport of radioactive waste to and from West Germany and the reprocessing centre ( SCK CEN) in

Mol, Belgium Mol () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Mol. In 2021, Mol had a total population of 37,021 inhabitants. The total area ...

. SCK CEN employees were bribed by Transnuklear employees to receive higher-level nuclear waste than permitted. The irregularities came to light after 21 October 1986, when an accident occurred in

Kwaadmechelen Kwaadmechelen is a village in the Ham municipality of the Limburg province in the Flemish Community of Belgium. Kwaadmechelen was an independent municipality until 1977 when it merged into Ham. History The area has been inhabited since prehistory ...

with a

Transnuklear NUKEM Technologies GmbH（branded as NUKEM）is a German nuclear engineering company based in Karlstein am Main, with a history dating back to 1960. The company specializes in nuclear decommissioning, radioactive waste management, spent fuel hand ...

transport from

Krümmel Nuclear Power Plant Krümmel Nuclear Power Plant is a German nuclear power plant in Geesthacht, Schleswig-Holstein, near Hamburg. It was taken into operation in 1983 and is owned 50% by Vattenfall via Vattenfall Europe Nuclear Energy GmbH and 50% by E.ON, and opera ...

to SCK CEN in Mol. Nuclear waste being transported did not correspond to the documents. On 8 April 1987, Nukem informed the

public prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

of irregularities by Transnuklear during the 1981-1986 period. Nukem was aware of the illegal activities a month earlier, but waited until after the 5 April 1987 Hessian state election, which gave a narrow majority for Federal Minister for Nuclear Safety

Walter Wallmann Walter Wallmann (24 September 1932 – 21 September 2013) was a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as the Mayor of Frankfurt-am-Main, Mayor of Frankfurt between ...

(CDU). The bribes concerned millions of Belgian francs for hundreds of transports in nuclear waste. On 10 December 1987, three Transnuklear employees were arrested. The manager of Transnuklear, Hans Holtz, committed suicide in jail a few days later. On 17 December 1987, German Environment Minister

Klaus Töpfer Klaus Töpfer (29 July 1938 – 8 June 2024) was a German politician ( CDU) and environmental politics expert. From 1998 to 2006 he was executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Personal life Töpfer was born in ...

instructs the nuclear authorities of Hesse to rescind the permits of Transnuklear. On 13 January 1988, Töpfer announced an investigation into transportation of nuclear fuel by Nukem/Transnuklear to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. This would be a violation of the

Non-Proliferation Treaty The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperatio ...

. On 21 January 1988, the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

established a committee of inquiry into the nuclear waste scandal. The German

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

and the Belgian Chamber of Representatives also established a

parliamentary inquiry committee A parliamentary inquiry committee is an investigation committee of the legislative branch, which transforms the parliamentary house itself into a committee to hear testimonies and gather information directly. At the municipal level, its correct n ...

. Together with the 1986

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

, this scandal led to the creation of the Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz in Germany and the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) in Belgium.

References

External links

* {{official website Companies based in Bavaria Nuclear fuel companies Nuclear power companies of Germany