Kazakhstan Will Offer Open Tender For Nuclear Plant, Says Energy Minister

30 May (NucNet): If Kazakhstan decides to push ahead with a new nuclear plant it will offer the contract on an open tender, energy minister Kanat Bozumbayev was quoted by Russian media as saying. Mr Bozumbayev said he wanted to put to rest rumours circulating in the media that the plant would only be built by “a neighbor”, suggesting he was referring to Russia. In January 2015 Mr Bozumbayev’s predecessor said the question of whether Kazakhstan should build a second nuclear power station would become clear when a single energy market is formed for the Eurasian Economic Union in 2019. In October 2014, Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom signed a draft agreement for the construction and operation of the first commercial nuclear power station in Kazakhstan. Rosatom said the exact details of the proposed project, including the plant site and construction schedule, would need to be determined before a final contract was signed. Kazakhstan has no commercial nuclear units. It operated the BN-350 Aktau demonstration fast breeder reactor from 1992 until 1999. The reactor has now been decommissioned.