Cleaning up a toxic legacy: Environmental remediation of former uranium production sites in Central Asia

Nearly 60 abandoned uranium production sites dot the landscape and represent a hazard to the environment and inhabitants throughout rural Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Each site poses a challenge for local and national governments that lack technical expertise and resources for remediation. The sites were used to produce uranium until the 1990s. They were built before proper regulatory infrastructure was in place to ensure eventual decommissioning, so leftover residues with long-lived radioactive and highly toxic chemical contaminants still pose substantial risks to the health of the public and the environment.