Bakytbek Asankulov, the Kyrgyz emergency situations ministry's employee in charge of radioactive security, stands near new "Dalneye" tailings dump amid the ongoing disposal work over Soviet-era radioactive nuclear waste in the town of Min-Kush, some 300 kms from Bishkek, on October 18, 2024. (Photo by VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO / AFP)