CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE URANIUM TAIL STORAGES AT KADJI-SAI (SOUTHERN SHORE OF ISSYK-KUL LAKE, KYRGYZSTAN)

In 1996, an abandoned uranium mine was re-discovered in the Djilubulak ephemeral stream valley on the southern shore of Issyk-Kul - one of the largest and most pristine lakes in the world. The tail storages from the past mining may pose a pollution hazard to the lake water and sediments. A chain of six protective pools interconnected by drain pipes descend from the abandoned mine and processing plant down the Djilubulak stream valley. To assess the effectiveness of these catch pools and the scale of pollution risk the investigation of tail storages composition was performed. As a result, three sources of anomalous radioactivity were discovered: