The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has pointed out recently that radioactive tailings are still piled around Tajikistan. Ana María Cetto, IAEA Deputy Director General and head of its Technical Cooperation Department, visited Tajikistan this May. She met with Minister Asadullo Gulomov and Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zaripov who apparently claimed that cleaning up radioactive debris in rural areas is a priority. The problem of course is the funding. Tajikistan has 10 abandoned tailings sites. And according to Ms. Cetto the IAEA can’t pay to clean them up rather can only “provide the expertise and the knowledge to Tajikistan that will assist it best help itself.” But still, good news after several years of little press and little priority?
Hardly. A IWPR report from 2005, two years ago for those keeping count, revealed similar visits from the IAEA and similar statements from the director of the Vostokredmet Mining Company: “Over the past few years specialists from the IAEA have come to Sogd region four times. Several evaluation projects were undertaken with the Russian nuclear ministry, but neither Russia nor Tajikistan have the necessary funds to go forward. At present, Vostokredmet can only monitor the situation. Around 10-15 million US dollars would be needed to make any progress.”
10 million USD doesn’t sound too bad. But that estimate may be a bit low to do the job properly. 9 sites in Western Colorado were recently cleaned up by the US Department of Energy for over $900 million, out of a program totaling $1.5 billion. Ongoing regulations and projects to prevent building on or near potentially radioactive land are also a far cry from the IAEA report that houses are actually being built out of tailings in Tajikistan, not just near them.
So if the UN agency and the US government won’t help, it’s possible that Europe might take notice (as they have in the past) or non-governmental like the Nuclear Threat Initiative can raise the private funds to clean up a potential threat to human health and regional security. But all indications seem to be that it could take quite a few more years.
Picture: Uranium mine tailings at Taboshar in Tajikistan. (P. Rickwood/IAEA)
7 Comments
July 10, 2007 at 7:05 pm
[...] nonpon says that it might take another few years before actions follow words in cleaning up Tajikistan’s radioactive debris. Share This [...]
July 23, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Do you know if there are any public maps showing where the sites are?
July 23, 2007 at 8:05 pm
The IAEA mentions 10 sites in northern Tajikistan. The areas listed frequently are Chkalovsk, Taboshar and Adrasman.
In fact, I may have put too harsh a title on this post. The IAEA has a couple of new projects to monitor and measure the radiation from these waste sites (but still, not to actually clean it up). They are partnering with the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan (in Dushanbe), the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Agency (in Dushanbe), and the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Agency, Sogd Oblast Branch (in Chkalovsk). Their contact information is here: http://www-tc.iaea.org/tcweb/regionalsites/europe/country/default.asp?cid=TAD The IAEA contact might ultimately be the most helpful in actually releasing public information though.
Otherwise, I’m not aware of an online map of the sites. Let me know if you find one!
-Shannon
July 23, 2007 at 11:00 pm
[...] poor and sometimes, the stone used to build houses by the homeless. NonPon discusses this using Tajikistan as an example, but this problem has also been discussed in re: Kyrgyzstan for non-proliferation [...]
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May 26, 2009 at 12:16 pm
не уверена что это так) хотя спасиб