Russian decontamination experts are to cover and decontaminate radioactive waste sites in Istiqlol, Tajikistan, seven and a half decades after the city played a secret role in the making of the Soviet Union’s first atomic bomb in the 1940s.

Istiqlol, formerly Taboshar, is a small city of around 18,000 inhabitants that, to its enduring misfortune, became a location for uranium mining required by Moscow as it sought to become a nuclear power. The Soviets successfully tested their first nuclear device, called RDS-1 or “First Lightning” (codenamed “Joe-1” by the United States), at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan in 1949.

To this day, many of Istiqlol’s inhabitants tell chilling stories of serious health impacts thought to be related to storage sites containing millions of tonnes of uranium waste.

In March 2023, the website of Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon stated that ​​the Istiqlol sites covered an area of 7.5 hectares, with their height in some locations reaching 65 metres.

According to the Central Asian Bureau for Analytical Reporting (CABAR), Tajikistan has lately secured an agreement with Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom to introduce a decontamination programme.

It referred to local press reports describing how Mayor of Istiqlol Kayum Makhmudzoda said the programme would kick off at the end of this year, with workers tackling sites including the Taboshar-3 landfill. Located on three hectares, it is said to contain more than one million tonnes of radioactive waste.

According to RFE/RL’s Tajik Service, there are up to 50mn tonnes of uranium waste in Istiqlol.

CABAR referred to sources saying remediation work includes reducing the height of uranium waste storage sites to no more than 30 metres and covering the sites with stones, gravel and soil.

The media outlet, a project of the Institute of War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), reported: “When a CABAR.asia correspondent arrived in Istiqlol in May 2024, he felt a headache and burning in his throat about 2-3 hours after entering the city.

“To find out what was wrong, the correspondent visited a hospital in the Istiqlol city centre. He told about his health condition to the duty medical officer at the entrance of the hospital, as well as that he had just arrived in the city and that his head and throat hurt.

“‘What did you expect? There is uranium here. Uranium! That is why you people, those who just arrived, are feeling its effect,’ the duty medical officer replied.

“Not satisfied with this answer, I asked another doctor to examine me and check my condition. Two doctors came to me, checked my blood pressure, it was normal, but my head still hurt, and my throat was burning. When these two doctors found out that I had just arrived in the city, they said that the reason for my headache and burning throat was due to high levels of radiation.

“‘There is uranium here. We are used to it, but visitors suffer from radiation,’ said another doctor at the Istiqlol hospital.”

A resident of Istiqlol, Khosiyat Nabieva, pointed out to CABAR that her health deteriorates significantly in bad weather, especially during fog and high cloud cover.

“As soon as fog appears, I have a headache and high blood pressure. Could it be that the radiation level increases in such weather?” Nabieva was quoted as saying.

“When I and most family members start feeling pain in our limbs, we understand that the radiation level has increased. We are used to it. However, when guests from other places arrive, they become weak or have strong headaches,” she added.