A funding gap of EUR 40 million must be closed to finance urgent work to address the imminent danger caused by radioactive and toxic waste in Central Asia, according to a new cost estimate published by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) during its General Conference in Vienna in September.

Led by the European Union (EU), the international community established the Environmental Remediation Account for Central Asia (ERA) in 2015 to address the legacy of Soviet uranium mining in the region. Managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the ERA has brought significant progress, with work at two critical sites in the Kyrgyz Republic approaching completion ahead of schedule and within budget.

However, five more sites in the region are in urgent need of rehabilitation. While work on a new site in the Kyrgyz Republic and – for the first time – one in Uzbekistan is scheduled for next year, more funding is needed to complete the programme and mitigate the existing danger to people and the environment in Central Asia.

During the IAEA General Conference on 21 September 2021, a renewed call was made for additional donor funding in order to tackle the most urgent problems, as all parties directly involved renewed their commitment with the signing of a revised Strategic Master Plan (SMP).

The updated SMP provides a renewed framework for permanently resolving the uranium legacy in Central Asia. The plan serves as the basis for the coordinated effort of multiple parties and ensures the optimal use of limited resources. The Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as the IAEA, the EU, the EBRD and the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom), have endorsed the plan.

The SMP 2021 will be published by the end of the year. It will outline the current status of the uranium legacy sites in the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, including updated cost estimates for their remediation.

More information can be found here.