Notable case, Mailuu-Suu, Jalal-Abad Region, Kyrgyzstan
Mailuu-Suu
Майлуу-Суу
A mining town in Kyrgyzstan where uranium ore was mined and processed for the Soviet nuclear programme between 1946 and 1968. Twenty-three radioactive tailings dumps remain on landslide-prone slopes above the Mailuu-Suu river, which drains towards the Syr Darya basin.
At a glance
- Status
- Remediation under way
- Activity
- 1946–1968
- People affected
- 25,892 (2021)2
- Media
- soil, surface water, groundwater, sediment
- Kind of site
- mining, nuclear
- Area. Not a single site but 23 uranium tailings dumps on the unstable slopes above the town (Wikipedia, read in 2026).
- People affected. Population of the town (Wikipedia). Downstream the Syr Darya basin is densely populated, but the sources read give no estimate of the people exposed.
Contaminants
Radionuclides
Status
Remediation under way
The mines have been closed since 1968 and the tailings dumps remain in place, on landslide-prone slopes. Since 2004 the World Bank has funded Kyrgyzstan's Disaster Hazard Mitigation Project, with 5 million dollars for securing the dumps and a further million in 2011. The sources read (2026) contain no statement that the work is finished.
Story
From 1946 to 1968 the Zapadnyi mining and chemical combine at Mailuu-Suu mined and processed more than 9,100 tonnes of uranium ore; in the early 1950s output reached, according to Wikipedia, 10,000 tonnes of uranium oxide. The Soviet Union left 23 tailings dumps on a tectonically unstable hillside above the town.
The critical point is the geology: the dumps sit above a river, in a valley prone to landslides and mudflows. In April 1958 a tailings dam failure released 600,000 m³ of radioactive tailings into the Mailuu-Suu river; in 2002 a mudflow almost submerged another dump. The river joins the Syr Darya system, which irrigates the Fergana valley.
In 2006 the Blacksmith Institute listed Mailuu-Suu among the ten most polluted places in the world. Since 2004 the World Bank has funded, under the Disaster Hazard Mitigation Project, the relocation and capping of the most exposed dumps.
Timeline
- 1946Uranium mining and processing begins.
- 1958April: a tailings dam fails; 600,000 m³ enter the river.
- 1968The mine and the processing plant close.
- 2002A mudflow almost submerges one of the tailings dumps.
- 2004The World Bank grants 5 million dollars to secure the dumps.
- 2011A further million dollars for the same project.
Health
Wikipedia reports that in 2014 adolescents in the area were found to have higher cancer rates and weakened immune response; the original study was not consulted for this record.
Remediation
- 2004tailings relocation and cappingWorks to secure the tailings dumps funded by the World Bank under the Disaster Hazard Mitigation Project (5 million dollars in 2004, 1 million in 2011).
From the literature
Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.
Plants
- Helianthus annuusSunflowerUraniumEvidence: field
Fungi
- Funneliformis mosseaeUraniumEvidence: greenhouse
- Cladosporium sphaerospermumRadionuclides (mixed)Evidence: laboratory
- Rhizophagus irregularisUraniumEvidence: laboratory
- Rhodotorula taiwanensisRadionuclides (mixed)Evidence: laboratory
- Saccharomyces cerevisiaeBaker's yeast, brewer's yeastUraniumEvidence: laboratory
Sources
- Mailuu-Suu, Wikipedia, 2026
- Disaster Hazard Mitigation Project (P083235), World Bank
Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.