Kyrgyzstan Ready To Begin Remediation At Soviet-Era Uranium Sites, Says EU

22 Aug (NucNet): Kyrgyzstan is ready to start environmental remediation work at a number of uranium legacy sites from the country’s Soviet-era past, according to a statement by the European Union. The EU said environmental remediation will begin at the uranium legacy sites of Min-Kush, Shekaftar and Mailuu-Suu. Technical assistance will be provided, the EU said. The EU has already funded technical studies and environmental impact assessments at Min-Kush, Shekaftar and Mailuu-Suu. Remediation work will begin first at Min-Kush and Shekaftar, the EU said. The work will be funded by the international Environmental Remediation Account for Central Asia (ERA), managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The EU said it is so far the only contributor to the ERA fund with an initial contribution of €16.5m ($19.4m). Central Asia served as an important source of uranium in the former Soviet Union. This led to a large amount of radioactive contaminated material from the mining industry being placed in mining waste dumps and tailing sites. Most of the mines were closed by 1995, but according to the EBRD, “very little remediation was done”.