IAEA Unveils 2030 Master Plan to Repurpose Central Asia’s Uranium Legacy Sites

New strategy advances long-term monitoring, data governance and sustainable land reuse across Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has published a new strategic master plan extending cooperation through 2030 with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to manage and safeguard uranium legacy sites—abandoned mining and processing facilities that pose long-term environmental and public health risks.

The plan marks the next phase of a coordinated, international effort to transform hazardous Cold War–era industrial sites into safely monitored, reusable land, underpinned by modern regulatory systems, environmental monitoring technologies, and long-term data stewardship.

Turning Legacy Liabilities into Managed Assets

Uranium legacy sites across Central Asia date back to mining and milling activities from the 1940s to the 1990s and were abandoned without safe closure. The IAEA’s Coordination Group for Uranium Legacy Sites (CGULS) works with governments and international partners to remediate radioactive and toxic residues, preventing contamination of soil, water and nearby communities.

“The new plan focuses on strengthening regulatory, technical, financial and human capacity for the long-term management of remediated sites, in line with IAEA safety standards,” said Hildegarde Vandenhove, Director of the IAEA Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety.

A Systems Approach: Monitoring, Data and Stakeholder Engagement

Presented in Tashkent in October 2025, the strategy outlines a shift from one-off remediation projects to continuous, technology-enabled site management, emphasizing:

• Environmental monitoring and maintenance systems

• Long-term record keeping and institutional memory

• Transparent stakeholder engagement

• Safe and beneficial reuse of remediated land

For tech and environmental journalists, the plan highlights how data-driven governance and long-term monitoring architectures are becoming essential tools in managing legacy environmental risks.

Eight Years of Measurable Progress

Since the original 2017 plan:

• Four of seven high-priority sites have been fully remediated (two in Kyrgyzstan, two in Uzbekistan)

• Local communities have regained safe access to previously hazardous land

• Remediation continues at a major Kyrgyzstan site, expected to run until 2032

• In Tajikistan, one site is partially remediated and another is pending

The new plan also expands its scope to include lower-priority sites, integrating environmental risk assessment with social and economic considerations.

A Blueprint for Climate-Era Remediation

“I am firmly convinced that the work of CGULS demonstrates how collective international action can produce lasting results in protecting people and the environment,” said Sardorbek Yakubekov, Deputy Chairman of Uzbekistan’s Industrial, Radiation and Nuclear Safety Committee.

The programme increasingly serves as a replicable model for post-industrial remediation, relevant to regions worldwide dealing with abandoned mines, toxic waste sites, and radioactive residues.

Call to Action: Early Adoption for Climate-Tech and GovTech Innovators

The IAEA is encouraging environmental monitoring firms, geospatial technology providers, climate-tech startups, and public-sector digital governance teams to engage with the framework.

Opportunities for early adopters include:

• Remote sensing and satellite monitoring of remediated land

• Digital twin models for long-term site maintenance

• Environmental data platforms for regulatory compliance

• Community-facing transparency and land-use planning tools

By harmonizing methodologies across borders and institutions, CGULS is positioning uranium legacy remediation as a long-term, technology-supported public good, rather than a finite cleanup exercise.

The full strategic master plan is now publicly available and intended to guide innovation, investment and policy in legacy site management through 2030.