President Emomali Rahmon got acquainted with the implementation of the project of the Radioactive Waste Neutralization Program in Istiklol, the press service of the head of state reports.
The project, implemented at the sites of radioactive tailings, is carried out on the basis of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Russia by the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Tajikistan and Rosatom, and is designed to perform work in the amount of 110 million somoni, the report says.
photo: press service of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan
“The height of the radioactive waste dump, the total area of which is 7.5 hectares, has decreased from 65 to 30 meters, it will be covered with stones, gravel and sand. At the final stage of waste disposal, landscaping activities are carried out,” the report says.
It is noted that the draft program is being implemented in Istiklol at four sections, work on the first section has already been completed, and work on the second section is ongoing. The decontamination works of sections 3 and 4 will be completed at the end of May 2023.
More than 100 people are involved in this facility. Necessary conditions have been created for workers and specialists, such as a medical center, sanitary rooms, a place for disinfection of special equipment and mechanisms, as well as a substation, the presidential press service emphasizes.
Earlier it was reported that Rosatom had completed the reclamation of the dump of the Poor Uranium Ore Factory, the most problematic facility at the Taboshar industrial site in Istiklol.
“As a result of the work, the dump of the low-grade ore factory became flatter. The height of the “uranium” embankment was reduced as much as possible – from 65 meters to 36 meters, which exceeded the design values, according to which it was planned to lower it to 45 meters.
Works on the dump of “poor uranium ores” in TabosharPhoto: TVEL
Monitoring showed that the radiation background in the perimeter of the reclaimed dump decreased by 10 times and reached a value of 0.2 µSv/h, which is normal.
“The reclamation of facilities at the Taboshar industrial site is the first project for TVEL JSC in the CIS. Completion of the project is scheduled for the end of 2023. The cost of all work under the contract is more than 700 million rubles. The implementation of the project will ensure the environmental safety of the region,” Rosatom noted in its message.
The radiation background in the perimeter of the dump has decreased by 10 timesPhoto: TVEL
Tajikistan has previously operating uranium deposits, as well as a number of ore-processing mining and chemical plants. The Taboshar deposit near the city of Taboshar (now Istiklol), discovered back in 1925, was one of the largest uranium deposits of the Soviet era.
Active uranium mining there continued from 1944 to 1965. The most problematic of all the tailings located in Istiklol is the open storage facility of the Poor Ore Factory, a mound of ground material destined for possible recycling.
Waste from the Poor Ore Factory has been exposed to wind and water erosion for several decades.
Source : Asia Plus
