Kyrgyzstan Flag for Kyrgyzstan

Country Spotlight

Kyrgyzstan did not inherit nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union and has not pursued WMD since. However, radioactive waste from uranium mining and milling operations reflects the legacy of the Soviet nuclear weapons establishment.

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Region   Former Soviet Union

36 Estimated number of legacy uranium tailings

22-25 Million euros

2017 Required to safely relocate nuclear-waste after a 2017 landslide threatened the stability of dams responsible for containing it near the Mailuu-Suu River

2019 Since 2019 the Kyrgyz Supreme Council has enforced a prohibition on uranium mining and exploration

Nuclear

  • Large amounts of radioactive waste stored pose significant health risk
  • Member of the Central Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone (CANWFZ) since 2006
  • Has no nuclear power plants, signed MoU in 2022 with Russia’s Rosatom to construct small nuclear power plants

Biological

  • Has no known biological weapons and lacks the domestic capability to produce them
  • Party to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) 

Missile

  • Does not possess ballistic or cruise missiles
  • Expanded military-technical cooperation with Russia in 2021 including plans to upgrade Kyrgyz air defense capabilities to a Russian S-300 air defense system
  • Not party to Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation

Chemical

  • Has no known chemical weapons and lacks the domestic capability to produce them 
  • Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)

Treaties and Regimes Memberships

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Central Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone (CANWFZ)

The Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone (CANWFZ) made formerly-Soviet Central Asia, a Nuclear-Weapons-Free-Zone under the Semipalatinsk Treaty.

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Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

The CIS is an association that coordinates the facilitation of free movement of goods, services, labor force, and capital between member states. It also promotes cooperation on security matters.

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NPT

The NPT is a treaty aimed at limiting the spread of nuclear weapons through the three pillars of non-proliferation, disarmament, and peaceful use of nuclear energy.

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Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty bans all nuclear explosion tests on Earth. It needs eight key countries to ratify before entry into force.

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Analysis

Kyrgyzstan

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