Miles suu. The 'closed' town of Maili-Sai in southern Kyrgyzstan

“Uranium ore is a yellowish clay. It was taken to factories, stirred in water and the resulting slurry - pulp - was driven through a special filter cloth. Uranium salts settled on the filter, after which it was burned and the product was subjected to further processing. Later, the electrolysis method was used. The method of underground leaching became widespread much later and was not used in Maili-Sai. No one really knew what radiation was, and according to our eternal tradition, precautions were neglected. Like, what will happen to us with vodka?

Nikolai Lipatovich Yaminsky told the following story. He, then a young guy, worked as a dosimetrist. So they come with dosimeters to the 16th adit to take measurements, and on a pile of ore extracted from the mine, several workers are sitting and having lunch, having laid out their “brakes” on newspapers. Passing by, the head of the dosimetrists said: “Girls, don’t sit here, there won’t be any children!” The next day a crowd of women sat in this place of different ages. So that there are no children. Contraception was not so great in those days... Some unclear consequences of not touching, seeing or smelling did not frighten anyone in those days. As a result, various forms of cancer are the most common reason deaths among former workers of the plant and their descendants."
...

“What attracted people here? In a poor and hungry post-war country that built communism on the bones of its builders, Miley-Sai was a piece of Europe, a bright spot and a model of this very communism. Earnings here were significant, and store shelves were bursting with goods. You can I can’t believe it, but I remember the shops, as if they came out of the parade films of those years. Remember the fair from “Don Cossacks”? In the local shops, there were pyramids of cans of stew, condensed milk, salmon, crabs (who knows what that is now? CHATKA?), glass cones with white and pink marshmallows, marshmallows, striped, corrugated marmalade, bundles of smoked bream dripping with fat, and circles of sausages hanging on hooks, barrels with 3-4 varieties of herring, a variety of cheeses, vessels with mountains of sprat and cheese soaking in brine, huge cubes of amber Vologda butter, tea with an elephant, I was not interested in what was out of the bottles, but why vodka used to be called white head, I remember in another department - bundles of fabric, shoes and clothes, toys. from the GDR and so on, and so on, and so on...

Nowadays, few people know what a tarpaulin bag is. Imagine a bag the size of a third of a sack, sewn from tarpaulin - the same material that tarpaulin boots are made from. These were the bags with which our miners went to collect their pay in the late fifties and early sixties. True, money before 1961 was of a different size and value. And yet, some miners could buy a Pobeda, 401 or 403 Moskvichok with their paycheck!

And society! As usual, when the Motherland needed it, the best were sacrificed at the altar of the military-industrial complex. In the city, almost all the intelligentsia had Moscow and Leningrad roots. Graduates best universities, specialists of the highest class! Graduates of Maili-Sai schools went to study at universities in Moscow, Leningrad, and Kyiv. And they entered, and graduated, and returned! "
"Volga region, Odessa and German Germans with their punctuality, cleanliness and hard work. Jews with their intelligence, ability to think, originality of humor and speech! Crimean Tatars with the ability to arrange amazing estates even on rocks and grow things there that are impossible to grow at all. Armenians, who began to build a house by planting a vine! Ukrainians with their famous lard, Belarusians with their ingenuousness and straightforwardness, Russians with their broad souls, what can I say, it’s impossible to list them all, representatives of more than 150 nations lived in our city, and everyone invested in it! his best piece of national character."

"...Everything collapsed, as in the whole country, overnight, with the advent of the “great reformer” with the satanic seal on his face. Then it took off and rolled, with whistling and hooting! Three drunks in a forest hut destroyed the Union, easily deciding over a bottle the fate of millions of people. (This is a wonderful expression - “like a thief in the night!”)

Once again, people went to cities and villages to look for a better life... The Germans began to leave for Germany, the Tatars - for the Crimea, the Russians - for Russia. And everywhere now there are no Miley-Saits. Throughout Great Rus', in Ukraine, in the Baltic states, in Israel, in Germany, in the USA and Canada. In Australia, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates...

In Germany, there is even an annual congress of the Maili-Saians, which brings together several thousand of our former residents... (I hope one of them will describe this.)

The independence of Kyrgyzstan became an incredible disaster for the residents of our small town. Independence from good education, from information, from cultural values, from the absence of wild corruption. The first president, Akaev, built a country in which only thieves, bribe-takers, and robbers are valued. And the main robber was the state and its president. Behind the fine speeches and soft voice hid the most unscrupulous predator in the entire history of Kyrgyzstan."

Introduction

Radiation safety is a new scientific and practical discipline that has emerged since the creation of the nuclear industry, solving a set of theoretical and practical problems related to reducing the possibility of emergencies and accidents at radiation-hazardous facilities. The entire range of tasks facing radiation safety is discussed below. The first task of radiation safety is to develop criteria: a) for assessing ionizing radiation as a harmful impact factor on individuals, the population as a whole and environmental objects; b) methods for assessing and predicting the radiation situation, as well as ways to bring it into compliance with the developed safety criteria based on the creation of a set of technical, medical, sanitary and administrative and organizational measures , aimed at ensuring safety in the context of the use of atomic energy in the sphere of human activity.

At the moment, there is a developed system of permissible limits for the impact of ionizing radiation on the human body, formalized in the form of legislative documents of Radiation Safety Standards (NSR).

But during the existence of the USSR, they did not care much about safety because captured Germans and so-called “six-year-olds” worked in these mines to correct them through occupational therapy - that is, all sorts of people who were in captivity or in occupied territory, managed not to die there and were unable to explain how... Uranium mining was carried out in almost all states Central Asia. In this paper I look at the small “closed” town of Maili-Sai, in southern Kyrgyzstan, where uranium was mined during Soviet times.

1. “Closed” city of Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan is one of the former Soviet republics. On August 31, 1991, during the collapse of the USSR, the independence of Kyrgyzstan was proclaimed. The city of Bishkek is the capital of this state. More than three quarters of the territory of Kyrgyzstan is occupied by mountains. Miley-Sai, aka Mailuu-Suu. A small town in southern Kyrgyzstan, founded at the end of the war for the mining and processing of uranium. The founder was Garshin Petr Petrovich, at that time the director of the enterprise, post office box 200. Huge deposits of radioborite in the Maili-Sai tract were discovered in 1929 by academician Fersman, but then they did not find use. The city of Maili-Sai is located 100 kilometers from regional center Jalal-Abad and 550 kilometers from Bishkek. The city is located in a mountainous area in the floodplain of the Mailuusuu River at an altitude of 800-900 meters above sea level. The distance to the border of the neighboring state of Uzbekistan is 24 kilometers. Beginning in 1901, oil was extracted in the vicinity of Mailuu-Suu, which gave the name to the river, and subsequently to the city (Miluu-Suu - translated as “oil water”, and Maili-Sai as “oil gorge” or tract). Development of the Mailuu-Suu field began in 1946 and continued until 1968. Already in 1946, there were two enrichment plants near the city: Hydrometallurgical Plant No. 3 and No. 7 (then it was called that way - Moscow, post office box 200). In Maili-Suu, over a period of 22 years of operation (1946-1968), two hydrometallurgical plants produced and processed 10 thousand tons of uranium oxide. In addition to the mines, two processing plants operated in Maili-Sai, processing not only Maili-Sai ore, but also raw materials from nearby mines - Shekaftar, Kyzyl-Jar, etc., located in the Fergana Valley. Ore was also imported to Maili-Sai from East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria. On December 22, 1964, an order of the Supreme Council was issued national economy(VSNKh) of the USSR on the construction of the Maili-Sai electric lamp plant with a design capacity of 300 million electric lamps per year, including 200 million normal lighting lamps and 100 million automobile lamps.

2. City population

For work in mines and construction processing plants(and along the way, the cities) were brought here at the end of the war by a voluntary-compulsory method of Germans taken from the Volga region, Tatars taken from the Crimea, as well as all those disliked by the Soviet regime. The exiled settlers began to be used full program for peaceful purposes. No one can say now how many of them were killed as a result of use. Because no one was counting. They were buried in mass graves in the adjacent mountains, not particularly caring about monuments and tombstones. Old people say that there are twenty times more people lying there than in the official cemetery. And towards the end of the war, captured Germans and the so-called “six-year-olds” began to come in for correction through occupational therapy - that is, all sorts of people who had been in captivity or in occupied territory, managed not to die there and were unable to explain how... That’s all of them now, thank God , veterans and participants, and then, without thinking twice, they were “soldered on” for 6 years in camps and sent to various sad places, in comparison with which the fascist concentration camps were similar to pioneer ones. Miley-Sai until 1968 was a closed city not only for foreigners, but also for Soviet people. If relatives were going to visit one of the residents, special permission was required. The procedure was lengthy, the candidate for a visit was checked as a future intelligence officer! The same applied to those who wanted to work here. The world's largest storage facilities are located near the city. radioactive waste. In 2006, the city was ranked as one of the 10 most polluted cities in the world. Oil has been extracted in this area since 1901, and interest in uranium arose much later. And, as usual, first from the Americans, and only then from ours... The Americans got hooked on our uranium during the war, when they drove their “airacobras” supplied under lend-lease to the airfield near the village of Madaniyat. In the opposite direction, until 1945 there was a flow of uranium ore, which was collected by open pit mining and transported on donkeys to Madaniyat by local residents. The Americans accepted ore at a price of $1 per khurjum (saddlebag, about a sack). There was also an American shop where bucks could be exchanged for goods: kerosene, boots, tea, matches... In NATO military documents of that time, along with the now well-known Arzamas-16, Melekes (now Dmitrovgrad in the Ulyanovsk region) and Chelyabinsk -40, where nuclear stuffing for bombs and missiles was made from our uranium, Miley-Sai was on the list of priority targets for nuclear strike . Well, then our people arrived and gently crushed the impudent Yankees. But they managed to skim off the cream... There is a legend that the first American bomb, like the first Soviet one, was made from our uranium. How true this is, I don’t know. Practically all open exits were raked out by plainclothes specialists from the country of the evergreen buck. Ours had to extract ore using the mine method. This is where our town was founded. All around were charming mountains, overgrown with wild fruit and nut forests, which were inhabited by wild boars, badgers, foxes and porcupines, and dug up and down by uranium mines. What attracted people here? In a poor and hungry post-war country that was building communism on the bones of its builders, Miley-Sai was a piece of Europe, a bright spot and a model of this very communism. The earnings here were significant, and the store shelves were full of goods. Pyramids of cans of stew, condensed milk, salmon, crabs (who knows what CHATKA is now?), glass cones with white and pink marshmallows, marshmallows, striped, grooved marmalade, bundles of smoked bream dripping with fat, and circles of sausages hanging on hooks , barrels with 3-4 varieties of herring, a lot of cheeses, vessels with mountains of sprat and cheese soaking in brine, huge cubes of amber Vologda butter, tea with an elephant! In another department there are bundles of fabric, shoes and clothes, toys from the GDR, and so on, and so on, and so on... Nowadays, few people know what a tarpaulin bag is. Imagine a bag the size of a third of a sack, sewn from tarpaulin - the same material that tarpaulin boots are made from. These were the bags with which our miners went to collect their pay in the late fifties and early sixties. True, money before 1961 was of a different size and value. And yet, some miners could buy a Pobeda, 401 or 403 Moskvichok with their paycheck! And society! As usual, when the Motherland needed it, the best were sacrificed at the altar of the military-industrial complex. In the city, almost all the intelligentsia had Moscow and Leningrad roots. Graduates of the best universities, specialists of the highest class! Graduates of Maili-Sai schools went to study at universities in Moscow, Leningrad, and Kyiv. And they entered, and graduated, and returned! Volga, Odessa and German Germans with their punctuality, cleanliness and hard work. Jews with their intelligence, ability to think, originality of humor and speech! Crimean Tatars have the ability to arrange amazing estates even on rocks and grow things there that are generally impossible to grow. Armenians who started building a house by planting vines! Ukrainians with their famous lard, Belarusians with their ingenuousness and straightforwardness, Russians with their broad soul! What can I say, it’s impossible to list them all; representatives of more than 150 nations lived in our city, and each one put the best part of their national character into it. Children different nations made friends, fell in love, got married, gave birth to children with a unique set of blood and languages. The hot sun and crystalline air, saturated with the smell of blooming ferulla, almonds, and mountain herbs, were added to the blood. And a new, unique nationality emerged - the Maili-Saits. The customs reigned here were strange, for the uninitiated. For example, an item forgotten somewhere, a bag with a wallet and documents never went missing. The cinemas never had inspectors at the entrance, and there was not a single case where someone did not buy a ticket. Even we, the boys, whom God himself ordered to climb everywhere and be present, jostled in line for tickets to the afternoon session, did not even think that we could just go into the hall and no one would stop us. Even among the boys it was indecent.

3. Uranium mining

In the mid-fifties, in addition to the traditional one, a unique form of uranium “mining” was practiced. The technology for extracting uranium from ore was quite simple and imperfect, and up to 50-60% of uranium salts remained in the waste. Cake (processing waste) with a high content of uranium salts was removed to the tailings dumps. At the tailings dumps, this creamy mass was intensively “evaporated” under the influence of the hot sun, and uranium salts appeared on the mud crust. Specially created teams “swept away” uranium salts from the hardened surface of the tailings into special rubber bags, and then poured them into barrels. Until 1968, Mailuu-Suu had the status of a closed city. By 1968, 22 thousand residents lived there.

The “uranium” era for Mailuu-Suu ended in 1968, when the last mine and hydrometallurgical plant (seven) were closed. Unlike another GMZ - (troika), which was somewhat earlier repurposed into the Kirgizelektroizolit plant, the "seven" accumulated large number radionuclides - that's why it was blown up.

But the era of nuclear confrontation did not end in 1968. In addition to uranium mining, the USSR used the mountains of Kyrgyzstan to monitor the activity of NATO nuclear strategic forces. In the city of Maili-Sai the military unit 12 of the USSR Ministry of Defense was located, which made it possible to monitor the activity of a potential enemy. Even in 1991, the unit was well-equipped and combat-ready. By 1968, richer deposits were discovered in Krasnokamensk (Transbaikalia), Stepnogorsk (Kazakhstan), Uchkuduk (Uzbekistan), and near Kzyl-Orda (southern Kazakhstan). There the uranium content was richer and mining was easier. And the plant was transferred there. And the Western Hydrometallurgical Plant, post office box 200, day and night, in three shifts, without holidays or weekends, produced uranium concentrate for the nuclear shield of the Motherland. In Maili-Sai, over 22 years of operation (1946-1968) of two hydrometallurgical plants, 10 thousand tons of uranium oxide were mined and processed. There are 23 tailings dumps with a total volume of 2 million cubic meters of radioactive waste and 13 dumps of radioactive and overburden rocks with a volume of 845.6 thousand cubic meters. The total area of ​​the tailings dump in Maili-Sai is 432.0 thousand m2. Of these, 14 tailings dumps and 12 dumps are located directly within the city. The total activity of all the Maili-Saya tailings is 5 thousand curies. This city is unique: there are no such number of uranium tailings as in Maili-Sai anywhere in the world. Think about these numbers. Behind them are hundreds and thousands human lives. Those who died during the construction of the plant, mines, and city. Those who were buried in mines, who were poisoned in these mines by radon, hydrogen sulfide, and methane. Those who received their share of radiation every day in mines, at processing plants, when transporting ore from mines to the GMZ, and simply living in the city.

Uranium ore is a yellowish clay. They took it to factories, stirred it in water, and the resulting slurry—pulp—was driven through a special filter cloth. Uranium salts settled on the filter, after which it was burned and the product was subjected to further processing. Later, the electrolysis method was used. The underground leaching method became widespread much later and was not used in Maili-Sai. Nobody really knew what radiation was, and precautions, according to our eternal tradition, were neglected. Like, what will happen to us? We vodka her! Nikolai Lipatovich Yaminsky told the following story. He, then a young guy, worked as a dosimetrist. So they come with dosimeters to the 16th adit to take measurements, and on a pile of ore extracted from the mine, several workers are sitting and having lunch, having laid out their “brakes” on newspapers. Passing by, the head of the dosimetrists said: “Girls, don’t sit here, there won’t be any children!” The next day, a crowd of women of different ages sat in this place. So that there are no children. Contraception was not so great in those days... Some unclear consequences of not touching, seeing or smelling did not frighten anyone in those days. As a result, various forms of cancer are the most common cause of death among former workers of the plant and their descendants. No, the miners, of course, were treated later. In the famous Moscow clinic No. 6, Chernobyl victims were also treated there later. But the miners and workers of the GMZ, despite the treatment, came under the jurisdiction of the heavenly office quite often.

Towards the end of the plant's work, buses with passengers were driving around the city, and in front of them were dump trucks with ore. To prevent radioactive dust from flying out of the body, the ore was generously moistened. Often it came from the mine in a semi-liquid state. And here comes a dump truck with ore, water, saturated with radionuclides, runs from the back onto the road, and cars drive along it and people walk, children are carried in strollers...

Below, in the satellite image, you can see the central part of the city, squeezed into the gorge of the mountains.

The mountains are a riot of colors, sounds and smells. Wild apple trees, pears, cherry plums, hawthorns - red and yellow, almonds, wild cherries, pistachios are blooming... And tulips, crows, irises, buttercups, bells... Some shrubs covered with small flowers emitting a stupefying honey smell. .. Bird hubbub, bickering, trills, screams... Crazy cries of orioles, cooing doves, chirping sparrows, rumbling hoopoes, ke-ke-ke-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-kaklik of chukars... Spring is the most wonderful time of the year for us! But other times are beautiful in their own way. Hot summer, with mountains of vegetables and fruits; autumn, with mild warmth, hunting and collecting nuts in the mountains, magnificent Indian summer, lasting until mid-November; short and unpredictable winter... In general, paradise is not paradise, but the places here are amazing and unique, despite the incredible summer heat, distance from cultural centers and... uranium.

4. Radiation safety

Uranium in any form poses a danger to human health. Moreover, the chemical toxicity of uranium poses a greater danger than its radioactivity. Uranium is a general cellular poison that affects all organs and tissues; its action is due to chemical toxicity and radioactivity. The maximum permissible concentration for soluble uranium compounds is 0.015 mg/m3, for insoluble uranium compounds - 0.075 mg/m3. Basic pollution control measures air environment dust during uranium mining and processing: mechanization of processes, sealing of equipment, use of wet methods of processing raw materials. Operations at radiochemical production facilities are carried out remotely, using biological protection. All isotopes and compounds of uranium are poisonous, teratogenic (affect the fetus during pregnancy) and radioactive. Uranium is known to emit alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Alpha radiation is the most dangerous factor, as it is retained by tissue cells and leads to changes at the cellular level. Each radionuclide has its own energy. The main danger uranium poses is for miners of uranium mines, polymetal mines, coal mines (especially brown coal), as well as workers of uranium enrichment factories. Others may be exposed to uranium (or its decay products, such as radon) through inhalation of dust or ingestion of water and food. The level of uranium in the air is usually very low, but workers in phosphate fertilizer factories or residents of regions near nuclear weapons production or testing facilities, residents of areas where weapons with depleted uranium were used in military combat, or residents near power plants or heating plants on stone coal, uranium mines, enrichment plants and uranium enrichment and fuel rod production plants may be exposed to uranium. Almost all uranium that enters the body is quickly eliminated from it, but 5% is absorbed by the body if a soluble uranyl ion is ingested, and only 0.5% if an insoluble form of uranium (its oxide) is ingested. However, soluble uranium compounds are eliminated much faster than insoluble ones. This is especially true for the absorption of dust by the lungs. Uranium that enters the bloodstream bioaccumulates and remains in the bones for many years (due to its tendency to form phosphates). Uranium cannot penetrate the body through the skin. With large consumption, uranium affects the kidneys, since it is a toxic metal (irrespective of its radioactivity, which is rather weak). Uranium is also a reproductive poison. Radiological effects are local due to the short range α- particles formed during the decay of 238U. It has been established that uranyl ions, UO2+, included in uranium trioxide, uranyl nitrate or other compounds of hexavalent uranium cause birth defects and damage to the immune system. Uranium does not cause cancer in humans, but its breakdown products, especially radon, can cause cancer. Isotopes such as strontium-90, iodine-90 and other fission products do not arise

themselves from uranium, but they can enter the human body during certain medical procedures, upon contact with waste nuclear fuel or with loss after testing atomic weapons. There have been cases of accidental inhalation of high concentrations of uranium hexafluoride resulting in death, but these are not associated with uranium per se. Finely ground uranium metal is a fire hazard due to its pyrophoric nature and the spontaneity of small uranium particles to spontaneously ignite in the air even at room temperature.

5. Toxicity of uranium

6. Safety precautions when working with uranium

uranium radiation safety kyrgyzstan

Uranium metal, especially when finely divided, is pyrophoric and can spontaneously ignite. As a result of combustion, uranium oxide smoke is produced, which easily penetrates the human body, which can lead to poisoning. Very finely ground uranium metal (or uranium hydride) can ignite in a flash. Therefore, finely ground metallic uranium (powder, sawdust, cotton wool, waste) should be stored in a fire-safe place: it is necessary, if possible, to keep the materials in an atmosphere of protective gas or liquid (for example, under oil), and in the latter case the liquid should cover uranium completely. The protruding parts easily catch fire just above the meniscus of the liquid. Mechanical processing of uranium should, if possible, be carried out on machines installed in boxes in an argon or helium atmosphere. When cutting a compact piece or when working with uranium powder, you must use a respirator. The following methods are suitable for eliminating uranium metal residues:

Melting into a compact piece in a high vacuum or in melted BaCl2.

. “Wet combustion” under water using a jet of hot steam.

. “Dry combustion” on a steel plate under a well-functioning draft.

Dissolution in HNO3 to form a solution UO2(NO3)2. Extinguishing burning uranium should be carried out, if possible, without water. You can use dry sand, table salt, graphite powder or special powder fire extinguishers. A particular explosion hazard arises when uranium metal or uranium hydride is sprayed into the air. The lower limit of explosive concentration is 45-120 mg/l. Uranium powder can explode very violently when treated with halogenated hydrocarbons, for example when degreasing with carbon tetrachloride, so one should beware of using trichlorethylene to degrease uranium metal, while the use of dichlorethylene is safe. When treating uranium with ether mixed with peroxides, it may

an explosion occurs. To prevent the formation of peroxides, copper filings should be placed in ether. When uranium powder is pressed into compact pieces in a hydraulic press, an explosion may occur inside the mold. Therefore, it is advisable to carry out such work behind a protective screen. When reducing uranium halides to metal in a closed vessel, especially if raw material is taken, excessive high blood pressure, as a result of which a reactor explosion is possible. Therefore, the reduction should always be carried out behind a protective screen and the closed reaction vessel filled with the substance should be protected from shocks, shocks and premature heating. When dissolving or etching various U alloys with zirconium nitric acid containing HF, a very strong explosion may occur. This can be avoided by mixing HF with HNO3 in at least a 4:1 molar ratio. The following rules for working with uranium and its compounds have been defined:

Never pipette solutions by mouth.

Wear gloves (surgical rubber).

Wear protective clothing (in special cases special shoes).

If there may be a risk of inhaling dust from uranium compounds, wear a dust mask.

Never smoke or eat in the laboratory.

Keep the work area absolutely clean. The following concentrations on surfaces are acceptable: 134 μg/cm2 238U, 21 μg/cm2 235U, 4.72 ng/cm2 233U.

Always keep the work area well ventilated.

If possible, work in a dry chamber.

Workplaces, premises and clothing should be periodically checked for α- activity.

Particular care must be taken if supercritical quantities of the fissile isotopes 233U and 235U must be used. The critical state depends in a rather complex way on the geometry, concentration of uranium and moderator, and the material of the reflector. Based on experimental studies, the values ​​of the minimum critical mass have been established, i.e., the amount of uranium that, when favorable conditions corresponds to a critical condition. For 233U solutions the critical mass is 591 g, for 235U solutions it is 856 g. If possible, the amount of uranium when working in the laboratory should be limited to half these values ​​or less. In this case, to some extent there is no need to fear a critical state, since even if by chance the same amount of fissile material turns up in the laboratory, even then the critical mass will not be reached. If it is not possible to avoid handling supercritical quantities, such as quantities on the order of kilograms when beneficiating or reducing a metal, special precautions must be taken during the experiment. Of course, you should hire a specialist. This must be taken especially seriously, since we are talking about an extremely insidious phenomenon.

7.Prevention of uranium poisoning

Prevention of uranium poisoning in production involves the continuity of technological processes, the use of sealed equipment, the prevention of air pollution, the treatment of wastewater before discharging it into water bodies, medical control over the health status of workers, over compliance with hygienic standards of permissible uranium content and its

If affected by uranium (VI) fluoride, immediately wash the affected skin areas with plenty of water. And mucous membranes shells. Washing 2% solution bicarbonate sodium Sodas inhalations, lotions, baths. At hit into the stomach burnt inside magnesia, gluconate calcium, mucous decoctions. Inhalation oxygen, carbogen. At spasm voice cracks - atropine (1:1000-0.5 ml). For indomitable vomiting - aminazine intramuscularly (0.5% - 0.5 ml). Prescription of calcium gluconate, calcium chloride (10% - 20.0 ml with 40% glucose - 20.0 ml). Cleansing enemas, diuretics - fonurit 0.25 g.

Conclusion

It is probably no secret to anyone that entering the 21st century is unthinkable without such a source of energy as the atomic nucleus. For humanity, the huge reserves of energy that are contained inside the nuclei are practically inexhaustible. If, in the conditions of the current growth of the Earth's population, an early transition to a nuclear energy source is not made, then, in the end, the day will come when the last drop, a handful of natural fuel, burns out in the furnaces and furnaces, and from this fateful day the history of mankind will begin to advance rapidly to its logical conclusion (or maybe everything will start all over again, as in primitive times and...?).

To appreciate everything pros And cons , of which there are probably as many as advantages , but arising under completely different conditions, it is necessary to look at the current state of affairs in the field of the use of atomic energy.

You should also pay special attention to safety when mining uranium and other minerals that are so needed in our time. After all, people working in the mines are no longer prisoners of war or forced migrants, but specialists in their field.

References

1. U.Ya. Margulis. Nuclear energy and radiation safety. M., Energoatomizdat, 1988.

Brief medical encyclopedia. In 2 volumes / Ed. Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences V.I. Pokrovsky. M.: NPO Medical Encyclopedia, Kron-Press

B. Lewin. Genes: Transl. from English-M.: Mir, 2009.

Radiation Safety Standards (NRB-76.87) and Fundamentals sanitary rules(OSP-72/87). M. (as amended), Energoatomizdat, 2006.

Country	Kyrgyzstan
Region	Jalal-Abad
Mayor	Sabyrbek Toktogulov
First mention	1946
Population	22,853 people (2009)
National composition	Kyrgyz - 76.0% Russians - 10.4% Uzbeks - 7.4% Tatars - 3.8%
Coordinates	Coordinates: 41°16′00″ N. w. 72°27′00″ E. d. / 41.266667° n. w. 72.45° E. d. (G) (O) (I)41°16′00″ n. w. 72°27′00″ E. d. / 41.266667° n. w. 72.45° E. d. (G) (O) (I)
Square	122.16 km²
Height	800-900 m
Former names	Miley-Say
Postal code	721100
Dialing code	+996 3744
City with	1956

Mailuu-Suu (Kirg. Mailuu-Suu) is a city of regional subordination in the Jalal-Abad region of Kyrgyzstan.

Geography

The city is located 100 kilometers from the regional center of Jalal-Abad and 550 kilometers from Bishkek. The city is located in a mountainous area in the floodplain of the Mailuu-Suu River at an altitude of 800-900 meters above sea level. The distance to the border of the neighboring state of Uzbekistan is 24 kilometers.

Story

Beginning in 1901, oil was extracted in the vicinity of Mailuu-Suu, which gave the name to the river, and subsequently to the city (Miluu-Suu - translated as “oil water”, and Maili-Sai as “oil gorge” or tract).

In 1929, academician Fersman discovered deposits of radiobarite in the Maili-Sai tract (Mailuu-Suu). Development of the Mailuu-Suu field began in 1946 and continued until 1968. Over 22 years (1946-1968), 10 thousand tons of uranium oxide were mined and processed at the site of two hydrometallurgical plants near Mailuu-Suu.

Until 1968, Mailuu-Suu had the status of a closed city. By 1968, 22 thousand residents lived there.

The last mine and plant were closed in 1968.

The city of Maili-Sai housed the military unit 12 of the Main Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense, which made it possible to monitor the activity of a potential enemy to monitor the activity of NATO nuclear strategic forces. Even in 1991, the unit was well-equipped and combat-ready.

On December 22, 1964, the Supreme Council of National Economy (VSNKh) of the USSR issued an order on the construction of the Maili-Sai electric lamp plant with a design capacity of 300 million electric lamps per year, including 200 million normal lighting lamps and 100 million automobile lamps.

In addition to the mines, two processing plants operated in Maili-Sai, processing not only Maili-Sai ore, but also raw materials from nearby mines - Shekaftar, Kyzyl-Jar, etc., located in the Fergana Valley. Ore was also imported to Maili-Sai from East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria. To work in the mines and build enrichment factories (and along the way, cities), at the end of the war, Germans taken from the Volga region, Tatars taken from the Crimea, as well as all those disliked by the Soviet regime were brought here by voluntary-compulsory method.

At the end of 2002, the plant was sold to the V.A.V.S holding. Near the city there are the world's largest radioactive waste storage facilities. In 2006, the city was ranked as one of the 10 most polluted cities in the world.

Population

According to the 2009 census of Kyrgyzstan, the city's population was 22,853 inhabitants, including Kyrgyz - 17,357 people or 76.0%, Russians - 2,382 people or 10.4%, Uzbeks - 1,697 people or 7.4%, Tatars - 878 people or 3.8%.

Mailisai is the city in which I was born back in Soviet times. One of the best cities of the former USSR, was under Moscow support; many who still remember that time know what Moscow support is and how one could live in such a city.

The city of Mailuu-Suu (in the background is the area of ​​​​the Electric Bulb Plant)

We had almost everything. People lived and enjoyed life. We were worried when the government changed. During the years of crisis, people there were saved only by faith in a bright future. But alas.

Nikolai Adolfovich Melker, director of the Electric Lamp Plant, was there. The man who raised the plant to its feet. But in the end, he betrayed him and sold him for next to nothing to a company that offered minimal investment. It's too late to condemn him. But the result of all this was that the plant is unprofitable for Russian investors represented by the VAVS Holding, they are gradually putting pressure on the plant, reducing the working capital of the plant, introducing into it equipment that should have gone to the Russian landfill and not worked at the plant. Such a complete mess there prompted me and my entire family to leave this city. We were not the first and we will not be the last. Of course, it’s a shame that we had to leave this once beautiful city.

The promises of the deputies were never fulfilled; those who promised to move mountains left everything in words and on paper. Well, where do the people have such faith in power? Our power has been corrupt and will continue to be, and they themselves are lately They don't deny anything. The fight is being waged at the top, and the people live, to put it mildly, in the “ass.”

I can't say for sure at the moment, but a year ago, 40% of the population, if not more, worked in the so-called glass dumps. How many people died there and how many more will die. But I can assure you of one thing: 1 death per week has become the usual norm. And also glass dust that will never leave their lungs. And some businessmen manage to open cafes and teahouses there. There is an even bigger season ahead for collecting nickel at the landfill. I hope the authorities will not ignore this issue. Although there is no longer any particular hope for power. Our democracy is something like “live as you want, whatever you want, just don’t rebel and don’t shout at the authorities.”

Below are photos of my favorite city. Once my canvas from which I broke away into the world. Thanks to my teachers and classmates for making it through. By the way, 3-4 of my classmates remained there, the rest left Malisai. Some are in the CIS, some settled in the capital Bishkek, some in Europe.

Mailuu-Suu city (Sary-Biya district)

Mailuu-Suu city. Thermal power plant is visible in the distance

Mailuu-Suu city center

Mailuu-Suu City Stadium

High-voltage power line next to tailings dump No. 16. One can only wonder how such colossuses were installed on the tops of mountains.

Oil used to be “pumped” right in the city

Overview map of the location of uranium tailings dumps in Mailuu-Suu. Tailings ponds No. 3, 5. 7 are shown in red (Fig. Torgoev I.A. 2002)

Radiation hazard sign at tailings dump No. 10

Tailings dump No. 10 (sleeps in a serene sleep and does not know about it...)

Hope to find" big oil"in Mailuu-Suu, so far they have not been successful

On the right you can see a fragment of tailings dump No. 13 on the left - the townspeople's dachas, and in the middle there is a section 10-15 meters wide separating them from each other

In the foreground is tailings dump No. 3. Northern Karagach is visible in the background

Hundreds of people, residents of Mailuu-Suu, “graze” every day at the glass dumps of the Lamp Factory in Mailuu-Suu.

Heaps of glass debris add a “special exoticism” to the Ailyampa-Sai tract

The local stalkers are looking for pieces of colored glass in the glass trash, which they then sell to entrepreneurs from Uzbekistan

In the Ailyampa-Sai tract, among seven uranium tailing dumps, there are mountains of glass waste from the Mailusuy Lamp Factory. And these mountains are growing here by leaps and bounds. To the right, in the distance, “deposits” of glass debris are visible. In the foreground is the “field” of tailings dump No. 4, and on the left is tailings dump No. 23. The Ailyampa-Saya tract contains approximately 23% of all “reserves” of radioactive waste in Mailuu-Suu. The light spots at the foot of the mountains are glass waste from the Lamp Factory in Mailuu-Suu.

brief information about mailuu-suu

In mailuu-suu, over 22 years of operation (1946-1967) two hydrometallurgical plants produced 10 thousand tons of uranium oxide.

there are 23 tailings dumps with a total volume of 2 million cubic meters of radioactive waste and 13 radioactive dumps and overburden with a volume of 845.6 thousand cubic meters. total area tailings dumps in mailuu-suu amount to 432.0 thousand m2. Of these, 14 tailings ponds and 12 dumps are located directly within the city. the total activity of all tailings dumps in Mailuu-Suu is 5 thousand curies.

This city is also unique in the sense that there are no such number of uranium tailings dumps as in mailuu-suu anywhere in the world.

The mailuu-suu uranium deposit itself began commercial exploitation in 1946 to 1968. In addition to Mailuu-Suu, the nearby Shekaftar, Kyzyl-Dzhar and other mines were exploited, confined to the outcrops of the marine Paleogene, bordering the northern side of the Fergana Valley.

Ores were also brought to Mailuu-Suu from Bulgaria, China, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia.

It is interesting to note that at the beginning of 1955, this form of uranium “mining” was also practiced in Mailuu-Suu. Previously, cakes with a high uranium content were transported to tailings dumps (the extraction of uranium from some ores was only 40%!). At the tailings dumps, under the influence of the sun, there was intensive “evaporation” of uranium salts from the cake mass, which accumulated on the surface of the “drying out” tailings dumps. specially created teams “swept” uranium salts from the hardened surface of the tailings into special rubber bags, and then poured them into barrels. For one barrel at that time they paid 5 rubles.

The city of Mailuu-Suu (the old name Maili-Sai) is located in the western part of the Fergana range in Kyrgyzstan.

mailuu-suu – for a long time was a closed city not only for foreigners, but also for Soviet people. it is located only 150 km from the city of osh. in 1970 it had 23.4 thousand inhabitants.

After the closure of the uranium enterprise here, post office box 200, and with the advent of perestroika, the population here decreased.

Mailuu-Suu, which was formed in the post-war years as a settlement of the mining and uranium processing industry, in recent years (before the collapse of the USSR) turned into a city with a highly developed electrical production (a large electric lamp plant and a plant of electrical insulating materials operate in Mailuu-Suu) and food industry(there is a large meat processing plant, etc.).

Today, the Mailuusuu electric lamp plant exports about a third of its products to Russia and about the same amount to Iran, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and other countries in Asia and Eastern Europe. Mailuusuy, among competitors from all over the former Soviet Union, managed to break into the Dutch market with their goods. The only thing that is bad is the glass waste from the Mailuu-Suu Electric Bulb Factory, which has filled the Ailyampa-Sai gorge

Mailuu-Suu is modern city with straight streets, comfortable two-story houses.

It is interesting to note that all uranium mines in Kyrgyzstan are very similar to each other - be it Min-Kush, Kadzhi-Sai or Mailuu-Suu. They were created according to unified projects approved by the Ministry of Medium Machine Building.

Almost every uranium mine had a stadium, a House of Culture, a Board of Honor, a Bust of Lenin on the main square, etc. In all urban centers. (urban-type settlements) there were standard names for the main street, square, etc.

Mailuu-Suu, like all former uranium mining and uranium processing enterprises, experienced a crisis of closure of uranium mines and their repurposing. So, for example, an Electric Bulb Plant was created in Mailuu-Suu, an Electrical Engineering Plant was created in Kadzhi-Sai, an Office Equipment Plant was created in Min-Kush, etc.

But such a boom in development as there was before is no longer expected here.

Many specialists left for Russia, Germany and other countries. The percentage of unemployed here is higher than in other cities of Kyrgyzstan.

Mailuu-Suu is an amazing place.

In the vicinity of Mailuu-Suu there are unique walnut forests. Here in 1903, in the Mailuu-Suu tract, a gush of oil hit the exploration areas and coal was found nearby.

The people here are no less amazing.

During the war they were deported here Crimean Tatars, Chechens, Germans, etc. After the war, Soviet prisoners of war were exiled here.

After the collapse of the Union, many left - some to Germany, some to Russia, but some remained to live here.

This city is unique in the sense that there are no such number of uranium tailings dumps as in Mailuu-Suu anywhere in the world.

It should be noted that radio environmental problems Mailuu-Suu has long been under the close attention of the governments of the Central Asian Republics, Russia, the International and Local community.

So, on April 5, 1996, the Governments of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan signed an agreement on joint work on the rehabilitation of tailings and dump areas rocks. In 1999, in Bishkek in June, an action program for the rehabilitation of tailings and dump areas was approved. The list of priority objects that were to be reclaimed included Mailuu-Suu, Ak-Tyuz, Shekaftar, Sumsar, Kadamdzhay, Khaidarkan, Degmaiskoye, Anzob, Adrasman, Taboshar.

There is an Agreement between the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan on cooperation in the field of prevention and elimination emergency situations(the agreement was signed in Cholpon-Ata, 07.17.98)

There are also many other events - seminars, meetings on the Mailuusuu tailings dumps on the need for their remediation and reclamation.

But these resolutions and meetings give little, since none of the Republics (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan) have money for this, and foreign investors do not yet see any reason to invest funding in this matter.

Previously, between the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kyrgyzstan and World Bank there was an agreement to provide assistance in rehabilitating tailings dumps in Mailuu-Suu.

In 1998, the World Bank estimated the rehabilitation of the Mailuu-Suu and Ak-Tyuz tailings ponds at $16.5 million, as well as $0.5 million annually for additional conduct monitoring programs for tailings dumps Mailuu-Suu and Ak-Tyuz.

In the spring of 2001, the Belgians won a tender announced by the World Bank. 0.5 million dollars have been allocated for the implementation of this project (strengthening one of the Kyrgyz tailings dumps).

In 2001, KyrgyzGIIZ received 200 thousand soms from TASSIS and together with consultants from the Belgian companies SK and KENT. He was supposed to do topographic surveys in Mailuu-Suu, drilling wells, collecting soil for laboratory analysis and strengthening the tailings dumps themselves.

The Ministry of Ecology and Emergency Situations allocated two hundred thousand soms for the preparation of design estimates for unloading the landslide near the Kyrgyzelektroizolit plant and reconstruction of the road to it. The Kyrgyzelectroizolit plant found itself in the zone of direct impact of the approaching thousand-ton masses. Experts offered two options to neutralize the disaster - move the plant to a safe place or relieve the landslide. The second option was considered more acceptable, since it is much cheaper (EVCHERNIY BISHKEK newspaper 07/31/2001).

Most recently, during a meeting of representatives of donor countries, President of Kyrgyzstan A. A. Akaev drew attention to the environmental problems of Kyrgyzstan. According to him, in Kyrgyzstan at any moment a man-made disaster, which will have dire consequences for the entire Fergana Valley.

So in Mailuu-Suu there are 23 tailings dumps. At any moment, a powerful release of radioactive waste may occur throughout the Fergana Valley and into the Syrdarya River basin. In Kyrgyzstan, 26 thousand people live in the affected area, in Uzbekistan - about 2.5 million people. In the Tajik part of the valley there are another 700 thousand citizens and 900 thousand residents of Kazakhstan.

According to the President of Kyrgyzstan A.A. Akaev, the republic will need to allocate $15 million to restore the uranium tailings. The implementation of this project will save the lives of more than 4 million people living in the Fergana Valley. However, Kyrgyzstan is not able to cope with this problem alone.

Previously, during the operation of mines and adits in Mailuu-Suu, oil sometimes leaked from cracks in the rocks. But as a rule, oil production was not carried out along with uranium, since at that time it was not profitable.

Currently, we have returned to the idea of ​​oil production in Mailuu-Suu. Small “pumping stations” of oil could be seen in the summer of 2001 not only on the outskirts of the city but right in the vegetable gardens of Mailuusui residents.

But the first encouraging results gradually faded away. Although many fortune seekers have not given up on the idea of ​​finding oil here to this day.

An interesting story about the discovery of oil in Mailuu-Suu.

In 1903, a gush of oil hit the Mailuu-Suu tract in the exploration areas. The well, 157 meters deep, released about 5,000 tons of fuel. In 1909, the British cleaned up the oil-bearing area, buying it from the heiress of Prince Khilkov. The company counted on easy profits and did not take any serious investment measures other than drilling tools. There was no more gushing oil in Mailuu-Suu. Oil was still extracted by tartanization. Which was very costly for the company. Unable to withstand competition from the oil monopoly BR. NOBEL”, in 1914 the company FERGHANA OIL INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY ingloriously ceased to exist...

Every spring, as soon as the earth wakes up from sleep and when it is saturated with spring rains, somewhere, slowly, high in the mountains in Mailuu-Suu, a terrible genie wakes up. Having woken up and waited for the moment, he rushes down the mountain like a tornado, sweeping away everything in his path. And then no one can resist him.

And the name of this gin is Landslide.

This legend about her land was composed by a little girl living in the amazing city of Mailuu-Suu.

This legend has a sad continuation. But it was the beginning that we liked.

And we really wanted to go to Mailuu-Suu and see everything with our own eyes.

Recently, tailings dump No. 3 has become dangerous.

The emerging landslide block at a height of more than 250 m must sooner or later descend to tailings dump No. 3. Tailings dump No. 3 was built a long time ago (tailing dump No. 3 was in operation from 1954 to 1958), so the drainage system is not working now.

As a result, radioactive waste is in a very water-saturated state

Therefore, there is a danger that if landslide processes intensify, radioactive waste will be squeezed out of tailings dump No. 3 and will end up in the Maily-Suu river, which flows only 100 m away.

Although the volume of radioactive waste in tailings dump No. 3 is not so large - only 110 thousand m3, the danger still exists, especially since radioactive waste with high radioactivity was buried here.

As noted by Torgoev I.A (2000) - in the process of developing in the Mailuu-Suu area the combined deposits of oil, uranium, coal, non-metallic raw materials on large area and relatively short terms large-scale construction was underway. The imposition of man-made loads on the weakly stable geological environment of the mountain ion led to the activation of a wide range of dangerous natural-technogenic geodynamic and geoecological processes and phenomena.

When choosing sites for radioactive waste storage facilities, design, construction, operation and conservation, serious mistakes were made. Tectonics, seismicity, and hydrogeological conditions of the area were not taken into account at all. Tailings ponds and dumps were located closer to factories and mines; they were close (less than 200 m) to residential buildings, which, in order to reduce radon load to permissible level must be at least 3 km. From an environmental point of view, the objects are located in the bed and floodplain of mudflow-prone rivers and streams that wash away dump slopes or tailings dams. The dumps of mines No. 8, 9, 10 of mine No. 6 are located in the bed of the Kulmen-Sai stream and are sources of systematic radioactive contamination. This water is used by local residents to water their gardens and water their livestock. The dam of storage facility No. 3 and highly radioactive tailings are in a water-saturated state, which makes it possible for them to thixotropically liquefy under vibration-dynamic effects from earthquakes, followed by the tailings floating into the river. A landslide block is formed above tailings dump No. 3, which in the form of a collapse can fall from a height of 250 m. As a result, radioactive waste can be released into the river and block its bed.

Landslides occur quite often in Mailuu-Suu.

But if previously they showed their violent temper without particularly affecting the uranium tailings, now the situation has changed. Increasingly, landslides have begun to pose a threat to the Mailuu-Suu uranium tailings dumps.

In the spring of 1994, a landslide blocked the Mailuu-Suu River. Then the residential area was flooded and part of the small tailings pond No. 17 was swept into the river. The containers of the Kyrgyzelectrolit plant, which contained the toxic substance escapan, were also destroyed.

Then a huge poisonous cloud of expane that escaped from the tanks passed through the entire city of Mailuu-Suu and then spread to Andijan itself, for tens of kilometers.

On May 12, 2002, a landslide occurred again in Mailuu-Suu. The volume of this landslide was 400 thousand cubic meters. It blocked the Maily-Suu River just above the KYRGYZELECTROIZOLIT plant.

The jam in the Maily-Suu River was formed due to a landslide consisting mainly of a sand and gravel mixture with limestone boulders. The jam was cleared quite quickly, as the danger was great. Then they used grenade launchers to clear the rubble, because the water behind the rubble could form a lake, and then with renewed vigor, breaking through the dam, carry with it everything that came in its way.

There was a moment when water had already flooded quite a large part of the plant’s territory. It demolished part of the warehouse premises of the KYRGYZELECTROIZOLIT plant, which remained here from GMZ-3 (from hydrometallurgical plant No. 3). But she couldn't do any more harm.

Especially recently, tailings dump No. 3 has become dangerous in this regard.

The emerging landslide block at a height of more than 250 m must sooner or later “land” at tailings dump No. 3. Since tailings dump No. 3 was built a long time ago (tailing dump No. 3 was in operation from 1954 to 1958), the drainage system in it does not work. As a result, radioactive waste is in a very water-saturated state (especially since preventive work on the surface of the tailings dump has not been carried out for a long time due to the lack of a construction and repair team in Mailuu-Suu. Additional upland ditches are needed here to drain water during heavy rains, etc.).

Therefore, there is a danger that in the event of activation of landslide processes (TEKTONIK landslide), radioactive waste will be squeezed out of tailings dump No. 3 and will fall into the Maily-Suu river, which flows at a distance of only 100 m.

Although the volume of radioactive waste in tailings dump No. 3 is not so large - only 110 thousand m3, the danger still exists, especially since radioactive waste with very high radioactivity was buried here.

In addition, when extreme conditions there is a high probability of a one-time displacement of the KOI-TASH landslide and the formation of a channel-by-pass dam in the area of ​​rock pressure, which is located downstream of the river from tailings ponds No. 5, 7, which, once in the flood zone, will be washed away.

According to the calculations of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, with the complete destruction of the above-mentioned tailings dumps, the volume of radioactive waste that can be carried to the area of ​​the river alluvial cone (territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan) will be about 1 million cubic meters. m. with a total radionuclide activity of 10.6 thousand curies. In this case, the area of ​​contamination will be about 300 square meters. km. (Although it should be noted that these figures are highly controversial, in any case, even with a tenfold decrease in them, such an accident is undesirable).

Considering that radioactive waste will end up in the Fergana Valley, where the population density is very high, it will not be possible to avoid an environmental disaster in this case.

It should be noted that most likely, the greatest harm will be caused not by the radioactive waste itself (at least at the first stage), which broke into the Maily-Suu river as a result of an earthquake, landslides, etc., but by the panic and radiophobia that will accompany this disaster.

According to radiometric survey data from 1992 in Mailuu-Suu, the average gamma background level in the city is 9-13 microroentgens/hour. This is much less than in Bishkek.

And we need to make sure that this radiation background in Mailuu-Suu does not change due to any natural disasters.

Therefore, it is now so necessary to unite the efforts of progressive international forces, for practical actions, on prevention environmental disaster in Mailuu-Suu.

In Kyrgyzstan, with its extensive road infrastructure, there are often dead-end cities. In the Batken region, these include the “mercury” city of Aidarken, in the Naryn region - the once urban-type settlement of Min-Kush with its uranium deposits.

And in the Jalal-Abad region, they include the city of Mailuu-Suu. The population of the city is 16-17 thousand people (according to the official census - 22.6 thousand people). A third of the residents are workers of the famous Mailuu-Suu lamp factory.

From big land The only road leading here is one that stretches along the Mailuu-Suu River, which runs into Uzbekistan. The city is located 30 km from the strategic Bishkek-Osh highway. Recently, only the lazy have not written that the formidable uranium “Butter City” at one time had the status of a closed one, and that near the city there are the world’s largest radioactive waste storage facilities, which is why, in my own words, in 2006 the city was recognized as one of 10 most polluted in the world.

The village, which is located in a narrow floodplain of the river, grew up along with oil production; later, city residents mined and enriched uranium. After closing down the mining and processing plant in order to provide people with work, the USSR government in 1964 decided to build an electric lamp plant named after the 50th anniversary of the Komsomol in the (then) city of Maili-Sai. An Izolit insulation materials plant was also built on the outskirts of the city. Unfortunately, the enterprise today resembles one of the workshops of the tractor plant in Stalingrad, which was completely bombed by the Germans in 1942.

Later, a garment factory and a meat processing plant were built in the city.

According to the recollections of the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan Turdakun Usubaliev, by the time the uranium mines were mothballed, about 25 thousand people lived in the city. City State housing stock amounted to more than 100 thousand square meters. Schools, social and cultural facilities and healthcare facilities were built here.

Construction of the plant began in 1966, and the plant reached its full production capacity of 300 thousand lamps in 1971. In 1990, before the collapse of the USSR, about 7 thousand workers and engineers worked at the plant.

When preparing the material, the correspondent K— News accidentally came across documentary“Miley-Say - Bright City” produced by the Kirgiztelefilm studio. The Soviet propaganda was filmed in the 70s, most likely to attract young specialists to the city. The authors of the film, of course, kept silent about the uranium tailings, but the city under construction, the townspeople and the Mailuu-Suu lamp plant were presented in all their glory.

“The Maili-Sai Electric Tube Plant is the pride of the domestic electronics industry. It embodies the experience of other electric lamp enterprises, because it was built by the whole country: Siberians and Urals, Muscovites and Riga, envoys from Transcaucasia and, of course, all the republics of Central Asia. And many stayed here, grew the plant, and with it the city,” says the voiceover.

Footage from old newsreels managed to capture the open faces of happy city residents, a random wedding procession, and the discharge of a woman in labor. The camera lens captured mainly people of Slavic nationality, which is not surprising, since many Russians and Germans lived in the city at that time.

“Lena and I were born in this city, and this is our homeland. We like it here, and it seems to me that there is no better city than ours. This year we are finishing 10th grade, and many roads are opening up before us. We could, like our classmates, go to all the cities, but we decided to stay here because we love children and want to work in a kindergarten,” she told the audience beautiful girl from documentaries.

In those years, there were 15 kindergartens and nurseries in the city, in which 6 thousand children were educated. The station worked for the younger generation young technicians, a hang gliding club, an electromechanical technical school, republican archery competitions and a farewell to the entire city into the ranks of the Soviet Army were held.

City - factory

What remains of the industrial potential of Mailuu-Suu?

According to local residents, the meat processing plant has been torn down piece by piece, and the clothing factory, which is in private hands, is temporarily idle. The Izolit plant is in ruins. Lamp production remains the only hope for the townspeople. Therefore, news from Bishkek about the upcoming sale of the plant was met with hostility.

As of today, the entire production complex is owned by the state, a bankruptcy procedure has been carried out, and the government has decided to sell the plant. At the same time, the plant produces 100 types of different lamps - from ordinary incandescent lamps to automobile ones. Currently, the plant provides jobs for up to 3 thousand city residents.

Talant Borbiev, head of the planning and economic department of Mailuu-Sui Lamp Plant LLC, said that 90% of the products are exported to Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other CIS countries. The rest is supplied to the local market. Transportation is carried out using our own freight transport to the Shamaldy-Sai railway station.

Correspondent K— News were allowed to talk to the company's employees. Sales worker Galina Chernykh, who has worked at the plant since 1976, said that the team is distrustful of all kinds of investors.

“The plant is state-owned and works normally. There was talk that they would sell it. But we don’t know whether a good or bad new owner will come. Now the salary is paid on time, and in general it’s a shame to quit my job, even though I’m retired. My children are in Russia, but I don’t want to leave. Now we don’t have enough workers, a lot of equipment is idle,” said Galina Chernykh.

Installer Igor Lengard had not heard anything at all about the sale of the plant.

“My salary is 10 thousand and above. It is paid on time, which is important for us. We don’t know what kind of owner will be again. We need stability and, if possible, modernization of equipment,” Lengard noted.

Samsa - 10 soms

Meanwhile, the city continues to live quietly and peacefully. There is no longer the former splendor and scope of “building socialism on the path to communism.” The uranium tailings, which were located in close proximity to the Mailuu-Suu River, have been reburied. In general, the townspeople were skeptical about the information that the city was included in the list of environmentally unfavorable ones. However, as in all of Kyrgyzstan, at one time part of the population migrated from here, leaving only enthusiasts.

However, the city authorities and the residents themselves did not give a damn about the improvement of the city. Since everyone knows each other almost by name, if necessary, they regularly and en masse go to clean-up days. Now the city has begun installing garbage cans, repairing city lighting and bridges, and reconstructing the cinema.

Municipal transport has been restored in Mailuu-Suu. At the expense of private entrepreneurs, the mayor's office solved the problem of landscaping the city park. However, the problem of water purification remains difficult, since the local budget does not support the reconstruction of the water intake and pipeline. The old water purification system has almost become unusable.

The town itself pleases with an abundance of green spaces, in the foliage of which the cozy two- and three-story houses of the city center are buried. According to stories, some of the houses were built by German prisoners of war, so it cannot be said that the city looks strict and monotonous in a Soviet way.

Those who are not employed at the plant, and these are mainly members of the families of plant workers, are employed in all sorts of places. The lion's share of citizens is involved in the work of municipal services. Some townspeople are engaged in private transportation, some in the market or in the service sector. Most teach in five educational institutions. The city is training technical and medical specialists and teachers. With the beginning of the school year, a stream of applicants poured from nearby villages to schools and vocational schools.

Everything in Mailuu-Suu is surprisingly cheap. For example, you can stay in a private hotel for a very reasonable fee. Probably only in this city can you eat samsa for 10 soms and drink a glass of soda from a battered Soviet machine.

Here people are busy with their own affairs and are not interested in politics. The townspeople no longer remember the last time a rally was held in Mailuu-Suu. However, everyone argues that if the lamp plant is sold, a social explosion will be inevitable and another hot spot of discontent will appear on the map of Kyrgyzstan.

Editorial K— News expresses gratitude to the chief organizational specialist of the Mailuu-Suu mayor's office, a native resident of the city, Nusup Seytaliev.