Remediation work has begun at two legacy Soviet uranium mining sites in Uzbekistan, bolstered by a €9m ($9.6m) grant that will support work to close mine openings, demolish derelict facilities that were used for uranium ore processing and to re-cultivate waste rock areas.
The €9m grant is from the environmental remediation account for Central Asia, set up on the initiative of the European Union and managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The EBRD said one former site, Yangiabad, is 75 km east of the country’s capital, Tashkent. It has seven mines spread across the mountainous terrain around the town of Yangiabad.