Germany’s environment ministry is arranging to have the data Wismut
has collected over the years confirmed by independent researchers. Much
of the information has been kept secret for decades. Experts have also been
brought in from Australia, Canada and the US to evaluate ways to reclaim
the land. Despite the advice of foreign experts, Richter says, the area’s
problems will not be solved quickly. ‘One of the main problems is determining
the natural levels of radiation for the region,’ he said. ‘Until we’ve determined
those, we have no idea of how far we have to go with decontamination measures.’
On the slag heaps, the level of radioactivity ranges from 30 to 50 becquerels
per cubic metre. In the two massive seepage ponds that are still in use,
radioactivity reaches levels of 10 becquerels per gram. ‘We’re going to
have to work on cleaning up the slag heaps and operate the seepage ponds
until the year 2000,’ says Richter.
In some places, Wismut’s workers have begun some reclamation work. But,
because of the company’s uncertain future, little money is available to
buy equipment. In Schlema, Wismut workers have begun to flatten one slag
heap with three or four dump trucks, a bulldozer and two steam shovels.
The tailings from the heap will be used to fill in an opencast pit elsewhere
in the town. The truck drivers estimate that the job would take five years
without better equipment.
Despite the lack of funds and uncertainty, the people of the mining
towns are doggedly trying to improve their own prospects. Before the Second
World War, Schlema and Schneeberg were both resorts as well as mining towns.
Now, the local government proposes opening a mining museum and an institute
for the study of the effects of radon, and building a geothermal energy