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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Nuclear
Biological
Missile
Chemical

Region Former Soviet Union

36 Estimated number of legacy uranium tailings and dump sites

150,000,000 Invested by the Eurasian Development Bank to modernize and clean the Kara-Balta Plant (shut down in 2016)

2019 Year the Kyrgyz Supreme Council voted to prohibit 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

Uranium Tailings in Central Asia: The Case of the Kyrgyz Republic

Report

Uranium Tailings in Central Asia: The Case of the Kyrgyz Republic

Tutorial on Nuclear 101

Teaching Tool

Tutorial on Nuclear 101

Biological

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

Tutorial on Biological Weapons Nonproliferation

Teaching Tool

Tutorial on Biological Weapons Nonproliferation

Kyrgyzstan Overview

Fact Sheet

Kyrgyzstan Overview

Missile

Does not possess ballistic or cruise missiles
Not party to Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation

Tutorial on Missiles and Other WMD Delivery Systems

Teaching Tool

Tutorial on Missiles and Other WMD Delivery Systems

Tutorial on Nuclear Testing

Teaching Tool

Tutorial on Nuclear Testing

Chemical

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

Tutorial on Chemical Weapons Nonproliferation

Teaching Tool

Tutorial on Chemical Weapons Nonproliferation

NTI Tutorials

Interactive & Visualization

NTI Tutorials

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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