Country takes ambitious step to move from uranium supplier to nuclear operator
Kazakhstan has selected Russia’s state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom to lead an international consortium for the deployment of the Central Asian country’s first nuclear power station.
The Kazakhstan Atomic Energy Agency (KAEA) said in a statement that that the decision was made though “an open and competitive” dialogue with leading global nuclear energy companies.
The agency said Rosatom’s offer was seen as “the most optimal and advantageous” among four shortlisted candidates that included also China’s CNNC, France’s EDF and South Korea’s KHNP.
Kazakhstan is the world’s largest uranium producer, accounting for 40% of the global output, but has no commercial nuclear power plant. It has four operational research reactors that are used for fuels and materials testing.
Plans to deploy large-scale nuclear power during the Soviet era were dropped due to the availability of other energy options, although the country operated a single fast neutron reactor at the Caspian Sea site of Aktau between 1972 and 1999.
Kazakhstan has designated the Zhambyl district in the south of the country as the site for its first nuclear power station, according to a government decree. The exact location for the planned nuclear station has not been announced, but it is expected to be near the village of Ulken, about 350 km northwest of Almaty on the shores of Lake Balkhash in southeastern Kazakhstan.
In October 2024, voters in Kazakhstan backed the construction of a nuclear power station in the country.
The station was expected to have an installed capacity of up to 2,400 GW, which now translates to the deployment of to two Rosatom Generation III+ VVER-1200 pressurised water reactor units. Kazahsktan has said it wants the capacity operational by the mid-2030s.
The KAEA said it will continue to work with foreign partners to form an effective international consortium for the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan.
The agency also said it is now ready to begin preparations for securing state export financing from Russia.
Rosatom’s head Alexei Likhachev welcomed Kazakhstan’s decision and said “it is worth noting” that Rosatom relies on broad cooperation with foreign suppliers in its international projects which “allows the use of the most modern technical solutions.”
Almasadam Satkaliyev, chairman of the KAEA, told local media that Kazakhstan expects to be the owner, operator, and producer of uranium raw materials, as well as the owner of all technological processes for the country’s first nuclear station.
“We understand that we are talking about large-scale investments in the economy of Kazakhstan,” Satkaliyev told journalists.
“And I can say with full responsibility that the risks of dependence on Russia for nuclear technologies are minimal, practically non-existent. All this is secured in the contract,” he said.
According to reports, Kazakhstan also expects to build a plant for the manufacturing of nuclear fuel.
Satkaliyev said in a statement that Kazakhstan wants to see China building a second nuclear power station in Kazakhstan.
He said the country is planning to sign with China a separate general agreement on nuclear energy cooperation. No further details on the matter have been released.
