 A toxic environmental legacy has cast a shadow over life in this remote town in Kyrgyzstan, limiting economic development. But a remarkable example of modern engineering, especially adapted monitoring drone, could help change everything. Welcome to Mailusu. Once Mailusu's identity was masked with the codename Mailbox 200. The reason for this? The town was at the very heart of one of the most important strategic industries of the day. Uranium mining and processing. Uranium production at the time was what we might now call a globalised industry. Or from countries like Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and East Germany, was transported to Mailusu and other Central Asian towns for further processing. But while the uranium industries have long since closed, those who live in these towns must cope with their legacy today. Many such places in Central Asia share the same fate, but Mailusu is the most prominent example. A key task today is to find unknown radioactive hotspots. Those for which historical records were misplaced or where the waste has shifted after landslides or flooding. Monitoring has usually been done on foot or less frequently by helicopter. In the first case it can be time-consuming and risky. Monitoring by aircraft meanwhile is expensive. Which is why the IAEA has partnered with a research project that could make all the difference. Radiation monitoring by drone. The nice thing about drones is that they can be operated remotely, which means the operator does not have to be on the sides that is investigated by a drone. So it is safer compared to the classical method that is operated on a helicopter. It is cheaper, it is easier to operate, it is easier to get flight licenses. It is also closer to the object of investigation. There are radioactive hotspots, we are now using drones, much better than in the previous years. We know where they are, what the background looks like. It means that we can characterize the radiation situation in large areas. Radionucleides from waste dumps can enter the food chain through the water supply, crop irrigation or the pasturing of animals. If we take part in the half-deadfall of uranium and other native people, it means that we have many thousands of years. It means that we have to monitor, to ensure the safety of our city and our region. There is also a genuine risk of a regional ecological disaster. Of course, for example, in this case, there is a risk of a regional ecological disaster. There is a risk of a regional ecological disaster. If there is a risk of a regional environmental disaster, then there is a risk of a regional environmental disaster in Uzbekistan. Benjamin Wien's Volga German grandfather and great-grandfather both worked at the mines of Milusu. And in a twist of fate, Benjamin is now training locals to use this cutting-edge innovation drone gamma spectrometry to identify the uranium legacy sites. Training Central Asian operators on all aspects of remediation is one of the IAEA's key objectives. And accurate radiation monitoring is an essential first step before the sites can be cleaned up in line with the IAEA's safety standards. Supported by the European Union, such work has successfully begun elsewhere in Central Asia. Dangerous buildings will be demolished and contaminated earth safely removed and replaced with fresh topsoil. It lays the foundation for economic revival and the safe development of tourism in these spectacular landscapes. The tests flights here and in neighbouring countries have clearly shown the drone's potential. There is now hope in Milusu that the threat of the legacy uranium works can be managed and eventually entirely eradicated. Sophia grew up here. Her father worked in the uranium mines. Sophia grew up here. Sophia grew up here. Sophia grew up here. Sophia grew up here. Her father worked in the uranium mines. Sophia grew up here. Sophia grew up here.