A sign welcomes visitors upon arrival in Yangiobod, with the message: "Be Glorious, Tribe of Miners” (Source –Google)

current regulatory documents, international recommendations and guidance, and the hazard The program was started with technical input presented by the different sites and facilities; contributed by the Norwegian University of Life assistance in development of national radioactive Sciences (UMB) and was further developed by the waste management strategies in each country; NRPA as a regional regulatory support program to development of an enhanced regulatory framework Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan and Tajikistan in 2008 with for supervision of protection of workers, the public the support of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign and the environment in relation to nuclear matters; Affairs. establishment of technical requirements for The overall objective of the program is to assist the systematic radiation monitoring around the relevant regulatory authorities in the above radioactive waste management facilities; and mentioned countries to develop national effective promotion of an enhanced safety culture. and efficient regulations and procedures, taking account of international guidance and other good practice and experience with initial focus on regulatory supervision of uranium mining and ore An analysis of the existing regulatory documents processing facilities. The main activities within the in Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan and Tajikistan which program include: identification of priority areas for was completed by the end of 2010 revealed more regulatory development, based on the status of

problems in addition to those described within the . Proposal for new radioactive waste framework of our ongoing project. classification in Kazakhstan In regard to the legal and regulatory framework, it (developed) should be noted that in some CA countries there is . Proposal to establish the new major no proper National Policy and Strategy for criteria for RW disposal in Kazakhstan Radioactive Waste Management developed and (developed) approved by their Governments. The current documents do not address the issues regarding . Draft Regulatory Document “Rules for safety assessments and safety cases or the Radioactive Waste Disposal in the implementation of long-term institutional control Republic of Kazakhstan” (developed) and monitoring of the abandoned dumps with . New regulatory guidance document on radioactive wastes (RW) or future RW disposal management of radioactive sources in sites, neither during operation nor after their Kirgizstan (in process) closure. There is also a need to develop safety criteria (reference levels) and determine measures . Establishment of the technical to be taken for existing exposure situations (past requirements for a systematic radiation practices). In addition, there is a lack of safety monitoring scheme around the requirements for different types of disposal radioactive waste tailings dumps in facilities in accordance with the different Kirgizstan (in process) categories of radioactive waste. Safety criteria and . Development of regulatory criteria in clearance levels are also not established. The main the field of radiation safety of challenges, as seen from the NRPA perspective, personnel, population and environment include: for radioactive waste management in  Insufficient information on radioactive relation to the uranium industry, in waste inventories accordance with international  Complexity of range of uses of radioactive recommendations in Kirgizstan material and extent of mining and ore (developed) processing activities  Multiple hazards: radiological, chemical . Law on Radioactive Management in and physical Tajikistan (developed)  Facilities and sites that have been left . Rules on Radioactive Waste abandoned or not maintained properly Management in Tajikistan (developed)  Relevant national institutional arrangements for supervision are lacking, . Establishment of the technical or have only just begun implementation requirements for a systematic radiation  Lack of technical and financial resources monitoring scheme around the  Internal support is not fully coordinated radioactive waste tailings dumps in within the national strategies in each Tajikistan (in process) country For more details we refer to the NRPA report  Cross-border regional problems related to “Threat Assessment Report. Regulatory Aspects of the former uranium facilities in CA the Remediation and Rehabilitation of Nuclear  Varied public and social attitude towards Legacy in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan” the legacy sites (StrålevernRapport 2011:5)” which gives an  Shortage of state-of-the-art equipment and extensive overview of the regulatory situation in machines. each CA country. Procedures and other factors are described that could affect the regulatory body to To date, within the NRPA regulatory support be more efficient. program the following regulatory documents have been or are being developed by the regulatory authorities in each country:

During the progress meeting in , Uzbekistan (Source –Institute of Nuclear Physics, Uzbekistan)

significant part of wastes generated as a result of extraction and sorting was stored on the sites of the mines, particularly, on the slopes of the river valley In September 2010, NRPA signed a new contract from Yangiabad to Angren. with SISIM regulatory body of Uzbekistan on the In Uzbekistan former uranium production facilities "Support in Development of Standards and were often simply abandoned, without taking any Regulations on Radioactive Waste Management security measures or left unattended after the and Long-Term Monitoring in Uzbekistan". The insufficient measures for their closure and regulatory authorities of CA countries and their currently, there are no national regulations for the technical support organizations (TSO), UMB and protection of personnel, population and NRPA also participated in the meeting. Uzbekistan environment during the work with radioactive is CA country and shares not only the borders with waste from uranium production in Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan and Tajikistan but also The current normative documentation on radioactive common problems in radioactive waste waste management at the uranium tailing dumps in management at legacy sites in former Soviet Union the Republic of Uzbekistan is supposed to be countries. brought to the compliance with the international For more than 40 years the Republic of Uzbekistan rules and requirements having in mind its own was one of the major ore bases for the uranium National strategy and local conditions. So the industry in the territory of the former USSR. Many regulatory documents can be used by the large uranium deposits with a relatively high government of the republic to provide safety of uranium content which, sometimes reaching 12.8- personnel, the public and the environment. 18.3%, were discovered in the region of junction of the Syr-Darya and the Amu-Darya rivers. On the whole, the main explored uranium deposits in the The SISIM is the Uzbek regulatory body in the field republic are located in the vicinity of towns like of radiation and nuclear safety. Uchkuduk, , Zafarabad, Nurabad, The purpose of the project is to provide assistance to Angren, Charkesar, and Krasnogorsk. the SISIM for the safety in industry, mining and During intensive mining the ore was extracted, public utility sector of the Republic of Uzbekistan in sorted and then sent for processing to the shops of the following way: the Navoi Mining-and-Metallurgical Combine in the town of Navoi (the Republic of Uzbekistan)  Development of regulatory requirements and the Leninabad Mining-and-Chemical Combine and rules on protection of personnel, the (at present – SE “Vostokredmet”) in the town of public and the environment in planning and Khudjand, the Republic of Tajikistan. The

performance of operations with radioactive in radioactive waste management at the wastes; tailing dumps of the uranium industry.

 consolidation of the infrastructure of the The work within the Project framework will cover regulatory body of the Republic of both the contaminated territories of the Republic of Uzbekistan for radiological protection of Uzbekistan and the boundary regions, which plays personnel, the public and the environment an important role in safety of radioactive waste, radiological material and equipment of high risk in all the regions of Central Asia.

KAZAKHSTAN

Nukus KYRGYZSTAN Uchkuduk 1 9 5 Urganch 4 Zarafshan Tashkent 2 18 11 16 15 17 1214 8 13 6 7 3 Navoi

Bukhara 10 TURKMENISTAN TAJIKISTAN Karshi

AFGHANISTAN The uranium industrial facilities in the Republic of Uzbekistan.(Source-Institute of Nuclear Physics, Uzbekistan)

inspection, compliance monitoring and enforcement. The RSLS will compile lessons The current phase of the bilateral projects with learned from past experience with legacy site Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan and Tajikistan is due to be remediation and provide recommendations as to completed in 2011 and in 2013 for Uzbekistan. what constitutes good practice for regulatory Many countries in other parts of the world have supervision of legacy sites. nuclear legacy issues, and the IAEA has set up an International Working Forum on Regulatory A number of regulatory problems and gaps being Supervision of Legacy Sites (RSLS) where NRPA revealed during the threat assessment process in was not only the initiator and active participant but each CA country need to be addressed in fulfilling is also the RSLS chair. The overall objective of the the overall aims of the regional regulatory support RSLS is to promote effective and efficient program. It is hoped that regulatory cooperation regulatory supervision of legacy sites, consistent with CA countries will continue also making use of with the IAEA Fundamental Principles, Safety regionally relevant technical support from Russian Standards and good international practices. The experts which are part of wider NRPA regulatory RSLS will assist Member States in deriving cooperation that can provide useful input to RSLS practical applications of generic radiation activities. protection guidance to legacy sites. This will help identify the needs for further development of international guidance specific to legacy sites. The scope of RSLS activities covers support in development of effective and efficient regulatory processes, such as: regulatory requirements and guidance development, licensing and authorisation,