BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, March 4. The Russian government has allocated 420 million rubles ($5.2 million) for the reclamation of ten uranium tailings repositories left behind from Soviet-era uranium mining and production in Kyrgyzstan, Azamat Mambetov, the First Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations of Kyrgyzstan, said during a parliamentary committee meeting in Kyrgyzstan, Trend reports.
The reclamation work will address ten critical tailings sites located across different regions of Kyrgyzstan, including a tailings site, tunnel, and mine in the village of Kadji-Sai, Issyk-Kul Region; a tailings site in the Nookat district of Osh region; three tailings sites in the village of Kyzylzhar, Jalal-Abad region; three toxic tailings sites in the village of Sumsar, Jalal-Abad region; and two toxic tailings sites in the village of Kann, Batken region.
According to Mambetov, the reclamation work is scheduled to begin in June 2025.
This funding follows previous financial commitments by the Russian government for the reclamation of tailings sites in Kadji-Sai and Min-Kush. The Min-Kush reclamation project is expected to be completed by May 2025, though delays have occurred due to the pandemic and the underestimated scope of work.
The agreement between the Kyrgyz Cabinet of Ministers and the Russian government was signed on March 26, 2024, following negotiations between Kyrgyzstan's Minister of Emergency Situations, Major General Boobek Azhikeev, and Alexei Likhachev, CEO of the Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom, at the ATOMEXPO-2024 forum in Sochi, Russia.
The agreement's main objectives are to protect the population living near the tailings, reduce the risk of environmental disasters, and promote efficient land use. It is also intended to contribute to the socio-economic development of regions affected by the closure of uranium mining enterprises.