BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, June 21 (UPI) -- The Kyrgyz Parliament has appealed to the world community for help in dealing with uranium dumps, local media reported Monday.
The risk emanates from more than 30 aging and poorly maintained uranium ore dumps scattered around Kyrgyzstan in a region of seismic activity. The uranium waste totals about 3 million cubic meters, the Russian RIA Novosti news agency said.
If the waste dumps are damaged or destroyed by an earthquake, the ecological catastrophe could encompass the whole of Central Asia, RIA Novosti reported.
There are 23 waste dumps and 13 mining dumps in the area of the former uranium plant at Mayli-Say, in the country's western Osh province.
In 2002, Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev said the waste from Mayli-Say could escape into the densely populated Fergana Valley and further into the Syr Darya river basin. About 4 million people in four countries -- Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan -- are at risk, Akayev said.
The World Bank and the Japanese government said in May they would give $8.85 million to Kyrgyzstan to reinforce the dumps.
