Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency –
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January 14, 2026
Jonah Helwig, IAEA Department of Nuclear Safety and Security
Experts visit an environmental rehabilitation site in Yangiabad, Uzbekistan. Photo: Government of Uzbekistan
The IAEA has published a new strategic master plan for cooperation, which envisages continued collaboration with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as international organizations, to restore the environment at uranium legacy sites by 2030.
These objects uranium Legacy sites are former uranium mining, milling, and enrichment facilities that operated from the mid-1940s to the 1990s and were subsequently abandoned without plans for safe closure and decommissioning. The IAEA's Coordination Group on Uranium Legacy Sites (CGULS) assists countries in ensuring the safe management of these sites and their radioactive and toxic residues to protect people and the environment.
“The new plan, building on our cooperation since 2017, aims to strengthen regulatory, technical, financial and human resources to ensure the long-term management of environmental remediation sites in line with IAEA safety standards,” said Hildegaarde Vandenhove, Director of the IAEA’s Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety.
The new plan can be viewed follow the link.
The plan was presented in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in October 2025 and will guide future activities of the IAEA, international organizations and partner countries, with a focus on monitoring, maintenance, record-keeping and ongoing stakeholder engagement to ensure the safe and productive use of remediated areas.
Eight years of progress
In accordance with original plan Adopted in 2017, seven uranium legacy sites in Central Asia were identified as high-priority sites for environmental remediation due to the risks they posed to nearby communities and the environment. Since then, four of the seven sites have been successfully remediated—two in Kyrgyzstan and two in Uzbekistan—allowing local communities to safely use these lands.
Work at the fifth site in Kyrgyzstan, one of the largest and most technically complex, continues. Environmental rehabilitation of this site is expected to last until 2032. In Tajikistan, rehabilitation of one site is partially complete, while work has not yet begun at another.
In addition to ensuring the safe management and reuse of high-priority sites, the new plan also includes measures for environmental remediation at lower-priority sites. These include sites that pose lower environmental, social, and economic risks and were not covered by the previous plan.
"I firmly believe that the work of the IAEA Coordination Group on Uranium Legacy Sites serves as a clear example of how the collective efforts of the international community, united by a common goal – protecting people and the environment – can produce concrete and long-term results," said Sardorbek Yakubekov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Industrial, Radiation, and Nuclear Safety of Uzbekistan, opening the signing ceremony.
IAEA support for uranium legacy sites
KGOUN has been supporting Central Asian countries since 2012, providing practical advice on environmental remediation strategies, sending expert missions to facilitate the progress of restoration work, and assisting in capacity building and the development of a legal framework for the remediation of uranium legacy sites.
The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Crisis includes the IAEA, the European Commission, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as other international organizations and IAEA member states. More detailed information is available follow the link.
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