Uranium Tailings Storage of Maili-Suu. 23 Tailings Storage Facilities
In 1946, industrial development of the Mailuu-Suu deposit began. In the late 1940s, the atomic industry started to form in Kyrgyzstan, focused on fulfilling military programs. It was during this period that the development of mines with high uranium and rare earth material content began. From 1966 to 1973, 23 tailings dumps containing about 2 million cubic meters of radioactive waste were decommissioned on the territory of the former mines.
Mailuu-Suu is unique in that there are few uranium waste materials, but they are scattered across 23 tailings dumps, like a tiger's skin.
According to specialists, there are two types of danger posed by the uranium tailings dumps. The first is radiation. However, if the tailings dumps are properly sealed, they will not pose a serious threat. Fences around the tailings dumps in Mailuu-Suu have been erected about ten times, but the local population has consistently torn them down. Radiation is not felt, so people think everything is fine.
The second danger is that if a landslide occurs on the tailings dumps, it can "squeeze" the dump. The mass contained within it can enter rivers (and all of ours are transboundary), posing a risk of water contamination. In other words, living there is not dangerous, but it is important to understand the risk of their destruction due to landslides and mudflows and to mitigate that risk.
Currently, there are 35 tailings dumps in Kyrgyzstan that are in an abandoned state, of which 30 contain waste from uranium production, and the remaining 5 contain waste from non-ferrous metal production. Most of the tailings dumps have been subjected to hazardous natural processes due to untimely conducted works, which were not taken into account during their construction. Natural disasters were also not considered. A sharp increase in landslide, mudflow, erosion, and seismic activity on the slopes adjacent to the Mailuu-Suu tailings dumps could lead to their destruction, which, in turn, would cause the release of tailings material not only into the Mailuu-Suu river valley but also into the densely populated Fergana Valley and, most alarmingly, into the Syr Darya river basin, which would lead to a regional ecological disaster.
Attention: Information based on submitted complaints