Central Asia served as the main uranium supplier to the nuclear industry of the Soviet Union for nearly 40 years. With the collapse of the union the newly independent states had to face a major challenge in radioactive waste management. An estimated amount of around 1 billion tons of waste from mining and processing radioactive ores is stored on tailings sites and in mining waste dumps of functioning and abandoned uranium mines in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. This poses still today a serious threat to livelihoods, human health, and the environment in the region.
To address this problem UNDP and OSCE initiated a project, supported by EC. The objective of the Phase II project is to reduce risk of the negative impact of the uranium waste on people, livelihoods, and environment through raising awareness and supporting people-centered, gender sensitive, risk-informed solutions in legacy sites at the level of local communities in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. The objective of this workshop is to develop joint vision on further steps for stakeholder engagement in remediation of Uranium Legacy Sites in Central Asia and assist the discussion of best practices and lessons learned.
UNECE Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents contributed to the workshop by making a presentation on “UNECE’s work and perspectives on strengthening mine tailings safety and governance in Central Asia and beyond”.