At their plenary session Friday, the Kyrgyz Parliament heard reports by Vice Prime Minister Kubanychbek Zhumaliyev and Emergencies Minister Temirbek Akmataliyev on measures to condition and store safely all uranium waste dumped in the republic.
According to Kyrgyz government officials, the contamination threat is the most serious at six of the republic's tailing dumps, which have a high radioactive waste content and may cause an environmental disaster not just in Kyrgyzstan, but also in the whole of Central Asia.
The Parliament has called the executive branch's attention to the necessity of stepping up design and construction works to avert the danger of global environmental pollution and of efficiently using the financial and material aid provided by international organizations. The Cabinet of Ministers has been instructed to approach their counterparts in the neighboring Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan with a proposal to provide financial and material aid to prevent the hazardous waste from contaminating the area.
At the moment, Kyrgyzstan has over 30 tailing dumps, containing about three million cubic meters of uranium waste, mothballed over thirty years ago. All the dumps are located in earthquake- & mud avalanches-prone areas, and their current condition is assessed as critical.
