After 75 years, this marks the end of an important part of German history that began during the Cold War and continues to have an impact today, the company explained. Germany is now no longer on the list of uranium-producing countries.

The latest shipment includes a 19.5-ton mixture of water and uranium oxide, uranium that was separated during water purification at the Koenigstein site and stored in two silos.

The uranium mixture has been sold to the US company Nuclear Fuels since 1997. Under the supervision of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the two silos were emptied for the last time.

The scheduled production of uranium ended in Germany in 1990, but 3,350 tons of uranium were still produced during the clean-up of the legacy operation in Saxony and Thuringia.

Uranium will still be produced in the future. But the quantities are so small that separation no longer makes sense.

Until 1990, East Germany was the fourth largest uranium producer in the world. From 1946 until it was shut down, 216,350 tons were produced and delivered to the Soviet Union, which used the radioactive element for its nuclear programme.

Since 1991, Wismut has been rehabilitating the damage left behind by mining. The federal government has so far provided 6.8 billion euros (8.3 billion dollars) for this purpose.