ASIA’S URANIUM LEGACY | SPECIAL REPORT
budget. The site was certified and accepted by the Kyrgyz authorities in December 2021. The Mailuu-Suu site is in an area prone to earthquakes, landslides and floods. More than 2m cubic metres of tailings were present at 23 locations along riverbanks. Mailuu-Suu has experienced several adverse natural events, most recently a landslide in 2019. The preferred remediation options identified by
European EIAs and FSs included relocation, soil cover and additional channels for tailings ponds, demolition and cover of buildings, closure of open shafts with concrete slabs, closure and filling of adits with concrete plugs, crushed rock and waste rock, and installation of warning signs. Objects included 39 waste rock dumps of various sizes, 20 tailings ponds, six shafts and 49 adits, two former ore processing plants and 83 former mine building or ruins. Remediation works were expected to take seven years. In May 2023, a grant of €23m was allocated from ERA for remediation at Mailuu-Suu. The Min-Kush site comprises four closed mines, four
waste rock piles and tailings ponds. Risks include the use of contaminated water for drinking and irrigation as well as physical hazards from dilapidated infrastructure and facilities. Close proximity to the Min-Kush river and a constant threat of landslide activity increased the risk of transborder contamination. Min-Kush remediation involved both the CIS Programme and ERA. The CIS Council approved funding and work, with the
total cost of €23m, started in 2017. This involved preparing the Dalnee tailings pond to receive relocated material from other tailings (including building protective screens and a new drainage system), building new roads, and in-situ remediation 36 tailings. This work is ongoing. The EU’s EIA and FS identified 24 uranium waste rock dumps covering approximately 13.5 hectares with an estimated total volume of approximately 0.9m cubic metres, 23 visible mine openings, three open shafts, 11 adits (some partially collapsed) and nine sinkholes. In addition, the abandoned processing site covered 10 hectares. In 2019, the
ERA approved €3m in funding and work began in 2020. The work was completed on schedule and below the projected budget. The site was certified and accepted by the Kyrgyz authorities in February 2022.
Tajikistan The Istiklol site (formerly Taboshar) covering 400 hectares is near the Tajik-Uzbek border and mountainous water courses used for drinking and irrigation. Risks include the discharge of contaminated mine water and radiological and physical risks posed by open mine shafts, adits, and sinkholes. Various objects located at Istiklol were planned to be separately remediated by the CIS Programme, EBRD’s ERA and EU’s INSC. The CIS Programme was responsible for recontouring
and covering the Yellow Hill uranium dump, improving the existing covers of tailings 1–4 (about 1.17m tonnes), dismantling building structures where heap leaching took place, and decontaminating adjacent areas. In November 2018, the CIS Council approved funding of approximately €9.2m for the remediation and in 2022 a RUB700m ($11m) trilateral contract for the work was concluded by the Tajik Ministry of Industry & New Technologies, Rosatom and the Central Design & Technological Institute (TsPTI - part of Rosatom’s fuel company TVEL) won a contract for the work. The work was completed in October 2023, almost five months ahead of schedule. As a result, the height of the uranium dump was reduced
from 65 to 35 metres and covered with a 1.5-metre layer of clean soil. The radiation background in the perimeter of the reclaimed facilities fell to natural levels. Necessary infrastructure was installed to support the work including asphalting 3 km of road and reconstructing power lines. Old reinforced concrete structures and equipment at the low- grade ore factory were demolished and large-sized scrap was isolated in reinforced concrete bowls. A protective soil layer was put in place, and a drainage system organised. The low-grade ore factory dump and all four tailings ponds were covered with a protective screen of natural materials.
Above: A tailings dump at the Taboshar/ Istiklol site in the Republic of Tajikistan Source: TVEL
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