Tajik Uranium Waste Exposed to Elements

Although northern Tajikistan stopped being a source of uranium for the Soviet nuclear industry two decades ago, the legacy of mining continues to pose health hazards.

Experts say ten large dumps containing waste from former uranium mines contain dangerous radioactive traces, and have become unstable over years of disuse. Cracks in the surface material are allowing radioactive material to escape into the environment.

These days, at least Tajikistan has the laboratories it needs to conduct comprehensive testing of radioactivity levels, one in the capital Dushanbe and another in the northern town of Chkalovsk.

The audio programme, in Russian and Tajik, went out on national radio stations in Tajikistan, as part of IWPR project work funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.