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PP RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0337/01 0540529
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 230529Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6748
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1393
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1434
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1423
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1374
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 1317
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1390
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1348
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1287
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1193
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0974
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1441
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1476
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 0767
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 7863

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000337 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, G, OES/PCI 
TASHKENT FOR ESTH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EIND SENV TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN:  FINANCING NEEDED TO PROTECT URANIUM STORAGE 
SITES 
 
DUSHANBE 00000337  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Central Asian Regional Environment, Science, 
Technology and Health Officer (REO), Regional Environmental 
Specialist and Embassy PolOff visited three of ten uranium waste 
sites in Tajikistan's northern Sughd region where processed 
uranium waste has been stored since 1942, the start of uranium 
mining in Central Asia.  Officials from Voctokredmet (Eastern 
Rare Metals Industrial Entity) accompanied EmbOffs February 6. 
The improper storage and protection of uranium waste at two of 
the three sites raises environmental, health and security 
concerns.  Radiation levels at one site reached 50 times the 
average background radiation level.  The Tajik government and 
Vostokredmet consider security a priority but estimate costs to 
be over $250 million, an amount Tajikistan cannot finance.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  Ten sites in the Sughd region store 54 million metric tons 
of uranium tailings.  The sites are located within and close to 
Khujand, Tajikistan's second biggest city, and near two 
villages, Tabashar and Adrasman.  Almost all of the waste 
storage sites in northern Tajikistan are near populated areas 
and/or close to rivers.  Tajikistan is seismically active and 
earthquakes, floods, and the accompanying mud and landslides 
threaten to contaminate the environment with uranium waste. 
According to Vostokredmet officials, in the past four years, 
there have been four instances of materials from the sites being 
washed away at Taboshar and Adrasman.  The lack of security 
around the sites allows anyone to enter and forage materials. 
Scavenging is widespread and impoverished locals look for scrap 
metal, which is then shipped to China, and other items that 
might be useful. 
 
GAFUROV 
 
¶3.  The Gafurov waste site is the best planned and maintained of 
the three EmbOffs visited.  The former-Soviet government planned 
and financed the site right before the end of the Soviet Union. 
Gafurov stores 400,000 metric tons of uranium wastes, mostly 
from uranium mined in Kyrgyzstan's Mailyy Suu.  The site is a 
four-hectare, 14-meter high mound, located on a main road 
running between the city of Khujand and the airport.  The mound 
is fenced, although there are at least two places in the fence 
where people can easily enter the site.  Voctokredmet designed 
the site and decided that seismic and other conditions precluded 
the use of concrete.  According to their research, covering the 
uranium waste with several meters of soil and heavily compacting 
the first layer would keep the waste from becoming exposed to 
the elements.  Vostokredmet officials said the REO Geiger 
counter readings of 10-30 CPM, equivalent to .1 to .3 
microSievert/hr are not above the normal level of background 
radiation. 
 
KARTA 1-9 
 
¶4.  The second site visited, Karta 1-9, covers18-hectare, has no 
security walls and looks like abandoned industrial grounds. 
Karta 1-9 contains approximately three million metric tons of 
uranium waste from across the former Soviet Union and Warsaw 
Pact countries.  Karta 1-9 has a thin cover of soil, 
approximately one to two meters deep that has not been compacted 
or treated in any way.  The waste site is bordered on one side 
by a grove of apricot trees and on the other by an abandoned 
railroad line and pipes that originally fed liquid uranium waste 
to another site.  Holes in the soil cover made by local rodents 
are visible throughout.  Geiger counter readings were slightly 
above normal in the 20-50 CPM (.2-.5 microSievert/hr) range. 
 
DIGMAY 
 
 
DUSHANBE 00000337  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶5.  Digmay, the third site visited, is the most contaminated, 
and is located outside of town approximately nine kilometers 
from the Syr Darya River.  The site is not well protected. 
Small signs forbid entry and a sign from the International 
Atomic Energy Agency marks it as a hazardous waste area.  A wall 
encircles the site, however, the lack of a gate enabled EmbOffs 
to drive a large vehicle onto the site.  The site used to be a 
reservoir to collect water in the same area where uranium waste 
was dumped.  Since the end of the Soviet Union, the reservoir 
has dried up, and the uranium waste, approximately 36 million 
metric tons, is now open to the air.  EmbOffs witnessed three 
men scouring the area for scrap metal and two bicycle riders 
rode through the bottom of the valley, within a few hundred 
meters of the most contaminated areas.  EmbOff measured one of 
the scavengers' gloves and they were twice the levels of the 
ground he was standing on.  CPM readings were 200-300 CPM (2-3 
microSievert/hr) along the top of the site, and the guides 
assured us that readings in the dried-out flats, where the 
uranium was, would be up to 1,500 CPMs (15 microSievert/hr). 
Readings of up to 1,500 CPMs are extraordinarily higher than 
those at Gafurov, which measured at 10-30 CPMs and considered 
normal.  Geiger counter measurements of the area in which the 
scavengers worked measured 200-500 CPM (2-5 microSievert/hr). 
 
¶6.  EmbOffs' guides were employees of Vostokredmet, originally 
known as Kombinat Number 6 established in Chkalovsk, outside of 
Khujand in 1945 ,to process uranium ores from mines in 
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan (Ungursoy) and Kyrgyzstan (Mailyy Suu). 
One of the Vostokredmet officials proudly informed EmbOffs that 
the uranium in the first nuclear weapon tested by the Soviet 
Union was mined and manufactured in Tajikistan.  Due to its 
specialized experience, Kombinat 6 continued uranium processing 
using ores from other republics in the USSR (Uzbekistan, 
Kyrgyzstan, and Russia) and other Socialist countries (East 
Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Mongolia) even after 
uranium mining ceased in Tajikistan.  Because developing nuclear 
weapons was a high priority for the former-Soviet Union, uranium 
mining and processing also was of high importance.  Although 
uranium mining in Tajikistan ended in 1956, uranium processing 
continues today using ores from other republics in the former 
Soviet Union and Socialist countries.  Vostokredmet refines rare 
metals on contract and has a number of manufacturing affiliates, 
including a jewelry subsidiary, a metal processing equipment 
factory, and a scientific research institute. 
 
¶7.  COMMENT:  The Vostokredmet officials that accompanied 
EmbOffss were very open about the number of sites, the amount of 
waste stored, and the storage methods used.  They also reported 
that Tajikistan had signed the Additional Protocol and 
inspectors from the IAEA made annual trips to the known storage 
areas.  They hoped that more attention to the state of the 
uranium waste storage sites would attract funding to bring the 
waste storage sites up to international standards.  The 
officials estimated that approximately $250 million would be 
needed, a sum that would be impossible for the Tajik government 
to finance.  END COMMENT. 
WILSON