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