ABSTRACT
Soviet era uranium mining and ore processing practices in Central Asia have left a nuclear legacy that threatens human health, promises severe and long-term environmental degradation, and retards economic development. We survey four sites in Kyrgyzstan (Mayluu-Suu, Kaji-Say, Ak Tuz, and Ming Kush) and two sites in Kazakhstan (Ulba Metallurgical Plant and Aksuek) that epitomize the situation. Mayluu-Suu, the site of greatest concern in Kyrgyzstan, has multiple tailings impoundments that are threatened by landslides, which could either push impoundments into the adjacent river or form dams and submerge them. The Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Kazakhstan is one of the oldest plants supporting the nuclear cycle. Operations have created a large quantity of waste, including actinides and beryllium, that is stored in retention basins. Some retention basins have sediment beaches, which act as sources for airborne contaminants. The clay-lining in some basins has cracked, producing contaminant plumes of unknown magnitude.
