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"The Disaster Hazard Mitigation Project for the Kyrgyz Republic aims to: (a) minimize the exposure of humans, livestock, and riverine flora and fauna to radionuclides associated with abandoned uranium mine tailings and waste rock dumps in the Mailuu-Suu area; (b) improve the effectiveness of emergency management and response by national and sub-national authorities and local communities to disaster situations; and (c) reduce the loss of life and property in key landslide areas of the country. There are three project components. Component 1, Uranium Mining Wastes Isolation and Protection, finances interventions in the Mailuu-Suu area to increase the condition of abandoned uranium tailings and waste dumps, and decrease the instability of large landslide areas. Component 2, Disaster Preparedness and Monitoring, (1) carries out a program of capacity building to improve the national system for disaster management, preparedness and response that can be administered effectively by national and sub-national authorities, as well as local communities; (2) establishes real-time monitoring and warning systems at about major landslides areas to detect and warn against active landslide movements and establish seismic stations and sensors to detect and warn against seismic events in key hazard areas; and establish a comprehensive monitoring system in Mailuu-Suu. Component 3 supports project management."

Residents of the village of Min-Kush in Naryn Province, central Kyrgyzstan, are worried that a mudslide could destroy a nearby radioactive waste dump and contaminate the local river. The Soviet-era radioactive waste dump is about 2km from Min-Kush and close to the River Tuyuk-Suu. "We are afraid of a huge mudslide triggered by heavy rain. It could destroy the radioactive waste dump, leading to contamination of the river. What will we do?" asked 35-year-old Saparkul Burkokbaeva from Min-Kush.

"I carry clean [drinking] water with my truck to the villages upstream almost on a daily basis. I was born here and I remember that in the past the road on this side of the river was closed to traffic. They say that was because of some mines and radioactive waste tailings," Bakyt told IRIN in Kairygach, about 10-15 minutes' drive from Mailuu-Suu.

The town of Mailuu Suu has been recognized by world experts including Blacksmith Institute as one of the top ten radioactively contaminated areas of the world.There is more than 25 000 residents estimated in Mailuu Suu daily exposed to the dangerous level of radiation from the radioactive waste dumps collected around the town. The first range of the soviet atomic bombs has been developed using Mailuu Suu uranium in 1940-1950's. Jetigen.org requested an interview with one of the Blacksmith Institute coordinators in the former soviet block,Vladimir Kuznetsov who manages field operations in Mailuu Suu. Ryskeldi Satke- What's the history of Blacksmith project "Mailuu Suu" in Kyrgyzstan? Vladimir Kuznetsov - The problem of Mailuu-Suu region has been partially (along with the other regions) raised in our first micro-project in 2007 which identified contamination of water supply source in the Mailuu Suu. The practical result of the previous project in this area contributed to the cessation of illegal excavation of contaminated waste parts for evolving purpose of metal trade business with chinese smugglers (fencing the terraces, implementation of new rules on the metal export for the customs, clarifying activities). The application for this project was submitted in March 2008, processed twice, and approved in June 2008.

Four Central Asian countries called on Monday for international help from governments and business in clearing toxic nuclear waste left over from the Cold War when they formed part of the Soviet Union. The appeal from the four -- Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan -- was backed at a one-day meeting in Geneva by United Nations agencies, several Western governments, and the European Union's executive Commission. "We, the governments of Central Asia, have shown our readiness to work together to tackle this serious and dangerous threat not only to our region but beyond," Kyrgyz Prime Minister Igor Chudinov told a news conference at the end of the talks.

Three Chinese tourists have bought a 274-kg (604-lb) piece of depleted uranium and brought it home from Kyrgyzstan as a souvenir, the China Daily newspaper reported. The three tourists from the city of Aksu in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region bought "the glittering treasure" for $2,000 at a flea market in Kyrgyzstan, hoping to make money by reselling it in China. Not knowing what they had actually bought, the tourists sliced off a piece of the stone and took it to experts from Beijing's Tsinghua University. After identifying the souvenir as a piece of depleted uranium, the scientists called the police. Local prosecutors decided against filing charges of nuclear trafficking as the men obviously had no idea what they had bought. The three men were taken to a local clinic for medical examination, but doctors found no signs of radiation poisoning.