Radioactive Hazard in Kazakhstan

Almaty. Kazakhstan owns 20% of the world's uranium reserves. Most of Kazakhstan's uranium deposits are located in the Akmola and North Kazakhstan provinces, which have the highest incidence of oncology diseases in the country. In particular, the Akmola province has 290 people suffering from oncological diseases per 100,000 residents, which greatly exceeds the country's average level.

Other regions of Kazakhstan also face problems caused by radioactive pollution. About 170 million cubic meters of radioactive waste, accumulated in Kazakhstan since the middle of the 20th century, negatively effects the environment. 'The influence of radiation on human organism has not yet been completely studied,' said Kazakh Health Minister Zhaksylyk Doskaliyev. 'This problem is not a problem for medicine alone. It's time to develop a comprehensive program for ecologically unfavorable regions.'

The conference, 'Medical and biological problems in the uranium-producing regions,' with the participation of Kazakh and foreign scholars, was aimed at drawing attention of the government, lawmakers, and the non-governmental organizations to their situation and solution. In the words of Larisa Pakush, Belarus's Ambassador to Kazakhstan, who attended the conference, Belarus spends up to one third of its annual budget on liquidating the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. Kazakh experts were very impressed by this figure.

The Kazakh Health Minister thinks the Kazakh government spends too little funds on improving the radiation situation in the country. The development and fulfillment of a program to improve the population's health would probably change the situation for the better.

Source: Times of Central Asia 26 December 2003