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Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov addressed the pressing issue of uranium waste during the People's Kurultai (national congress), emphasizing ongoing efforts to reclaim radioactive tailing dumps across the country. According to Japarov, many tailing dumps were constructed during the Soviet era along riverbanks and in headwaters used by local communities for domestic water supply. “We turned to Russia, as the legal successor of the USSR, for assistance. Rosatom allocated RUB 2.1 billion ($20 million). Work is now underway to relocate radioactive waste from hazardous areas to safer locations,” Japarov stated. Japarov highlighted the completion of uranium waste reclamation in Issyk-Kul Oblast, where nuclear waste had posed a threat to Lake Issyk-Kul. Without intervention, the region faced the risk of an ecological disaster. Efforts in Naryn region are also nearing completion, and attention will soon turn to tailing dumps in southern Kyrgyzstan. Local residents have noted that uranium mined in this area was used in the first Soviet atomic bomb. The tailing dump in Jalal-Abad region is particularly concerning due to its potential impact on neighboring Uzbekistan. Toxic waste from the site threatens the region’s ecology through contamination of a local river. Russian companies tasked with reclaiming five tailing dumps in Naryn and Jalal-Abad regions will be exempt from taxes, as previously reported by The Times of Central Asia. This collaboration is part of an agreement to address Kyrgyzstan’s most dangerous uranium waste sites. According to Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations, the country is home to 92 burial sites containing toxic and radioactive materials.
Kyrgyzstan's Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations, Azamat Mambetov, has asked for support from Central Asian countries at the International Atomic Energy Agency's General Session in Vienna, Austria. The 68th session of the IAEA General Conference is taking place from September 16 to 20, 2024. An official from the Kyrgyz Republic Ministry of Emergency Situations made a speech that called for attention to be paid to the importance of ensuring environmental safety in the region. “In his speech, Azamat Mambetov emphasized the importance of the problem of radiation safety in Central Asia and called for the intensification of international efforts to reclaim uranium tailings in the region,” the Ministry of Emergency Situations stated. The IAEA adopted a resolution on “The Role of the International Community in Preventing Radiation Threats in Central Asia.” A strategic master plan was developed to reclaim uranium sites in the region and create a special account for environmental remediation in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. The Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations of Kyrgyzstan informed IAEA members about the process of completing the reclamation of two nuclear waste sites in the country's south. This has allowed about 80,000 people in that area to live safely. The Kyrgyz Ministry of Emergency Situations stressed that it is grateful to all countries and international organizations that have made a significant contribution to the environmental rehabilitation of the tailing dumps left over from Soviet-era uranium mining in Central Asia. However, approximately another $45 million is needed to implement the Strategic Master Plan fully. According to the Kyrgyz Ministry of Emergency Situations, there are currently 92 toxic and radioactive waste dumps in the country. Of these, 23 tailings contain uranium elements, while the rest contain radioactive rock residues, heavy metals, and cyanide.