Environmental Relationalities 91
in five plants. 18 Over the years, approximately 550 million tons of radioactive
waste were spread at nearby habitations, polluting at least 180 ha of land. 19 The
Digmai/Dehmoi tailing dump lies in the plains only a few kilometers from
Khujand. According to Lespukh et al., “Digmai is one of the largest tailing
dumps of U hydrometallurgical waste in Central Asia. The tailings dump was
constructed by blocking a natural depression by a pioneer dam with a length of
1800 m and covering the bottom with a layer of bitumen.” 20 However, according to an IAEA summary from 2017, the Digmai (Dehmoi) tailing dump
ranks as high risk and hence high priority for environmental remediation. 21
The population of Chkalovsk was unaware of the risk of uranium and
used the waste areas to feed their animals. Villagers living near Tabashar had
experienced the dangerousness through their animals and recalled that if a
sheep would go to drink from the pond, it would fall dead on the spot.
Areas of danger (rather than pollution) were determined by experience rather
than knowledge. These experiences included direct interaction with polluted
areas such as the pond, which was called the “death pond,” as well as through
less obvious or secondary experiences, such as engineers’ wearing of protective clothing when visiting simple workers who wore no protection at all.
The most important experience, however, was that uranium seemed to
have the power to modernize the city. Secrecy is a tool through which rampant imaginations develop to the best as to the worst. Neither the workers
nor the population knew details about uranium and its health risks, but they
were well aware of the military importance that their labor represented and
proud of their relevance. The mythos that uranium produces wealth and
prosperity has not (yet) been broken.
The independent state of Tajikistan treated the uranium plants as a secret
and made it impossible for many years to obtain basic information about
the production and waste in order to estimate the social and health consequences of the polluted area. In 2009, five employees of the Vostokredmet
plant in Chkalovsk were convicted of committing espionage for Uzbekistan
and received prison sentences of up to 22 years. 22 This was a way to claim the
Soviet factory on Tajik soil as a Tajik project signaling to the much stronger
neighbor Uzbekistan that Tajikistan has control over the factory’s personnel.
While Russia keeps an eye on the uranium production in the region, the
different production sites in Central Asia went into national properties.
Only in February 2017 did Tajikistan sign the Basel Agreement in order
to receive financial help in managing the problem of the uranium waste.
However, this went rather unnoticed by the population, who has still only
a vague idea about the health impact of nuclear material and radiation.
According to a gynecologist from Khujand, health problems, childlessness,
cancer, and many other diseases are widespread in families, yet no research
has been conducted on whether these are connected to pollution or other
reasons. At times during the second decade of the 2000s, the government
of Tajikistan had even allotted polluted pieces of land around Khujand to
in five plants. 18 Over the years, approximately 550 million tons of radioactive
waste were spread at nearby habitations, polluting at least 180 ha of land. 19 The
Digmai/Dehmoi tailing dump lies in the plains only a few kilometers from
Khujand. According to Lespukh et al., “Digmai is one of the largest tailing
dumps of U hydrometallurgical waste in Central Asia. The tailings dump was
constructed by blocking a natural depression by a pioneer dam with a length of
1800 m and covering the bottom with a layer of bitumen.” 20 However, according to an IAEA summary from 2017, the Digmai (Dehmoi) tailing dump
ranks as high risk and hence high priority for environmental remediation. 21
The population of Chkalovsk was unaware of the risk of uranium and
used the waste areas to feed their animals. Villagers living near Tabashar had
experienced the dangerousness through their animals and recalled that if a
sheep would go to drink from the pond, it would fall dead on the spot.
Areas of danger (rather than pollution) were determined by experience rather
than knowledge. These experiences included direct interaction with polluted
areas such as the pond, which was called the “death pond,” as well as through
less obvious or secondary experiences, such as engineers’ wearing of protective clothing when visiting simple workers who wore no protection at all.
The most important experience, however, was that uranium seemed to
have the power to modernize the city. Secrecy is a tool through which rampant imaginations develop to the best as to the worst. Neither the workers
nor the population knew details about uranium and its health risks, but they
were well aware of the military importance that their labor represented and
proud of their relevance. The mythos that uranium produces wealth and
prosperity has not (yet) been broken.
The independent state of Tajikistan treated the uranium plants as a secret
and made it impossible for many years to obtain basic information about
the production and waste in order to estimate the social and health consequences of the polluted area. In 2009, five employees of the Vostokredmet
plant in Chkalovsk were convicted of committing espionage for Uzbekistan
and received prison sentences of up to 22 years. 22 This was a way to claim the
Soviet factory on Tajik soil as a Tajik project signaling to the much stronger
neighbor Uzbekistan that Tajikistan has control over the factory’s personnel.
While Russia keeps an eye on the uranium production in the region, the
different production sites in Central Asia went into national properties.
Only in February 2017 did Tajikistan sign the Basel Agreement in order
to receive financial help in managing the problem of the uranium waste.
However, this went rather unnoticed by the population, who has still only
a vague idea about the health impact of nuclear material and radiation.
According to a gynecologist from Khujand, health problems, childlessness,
cancer, and many other diseases are widespread in families, yet no research
has been conducted on whether these are connected to pollution or other
reasons. At times during the second decade of the 2000s, the government
of Tajikistan had even allotted polluted pieces of land around Khujand to