Kazakhstan Considers Nuclear Future with Plans for New Power Plant

Kazakhstan, a country rich in uranium, is considering the construction of a Nuclear Power Plant.

Uranium-rich Kazakhstan is considering building a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and has received numerous bids, including from Russia. France, South Korea, and China have also expressed interest in constructing the NPP.

An NPP will be developed in the Almaty Region’s Ulken hamlet, near Lake Balkhash, in 2034 or 2035. 

According to Gulmira Mursalova, deputy head of the Kazakh Nuclear Energy and Industry Department of the Energy Ministry, the cost of constructing a nuclear power station with two reactors will be between $10 and $12 billion.^[1]

This forecast takes earthquake strengthening and infrastructural development into account.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pledged in 2020 to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, implying the growth of NPP and Renewable Energy Sources (RES). 

According to projections, the NPP will cover 12% of the country’s energy consumption by 2035.

Ausenov also stated that the automated management system would keep track of the NPP functioning, removing the need for humans.

Kazakhstan previously exported uranium to India where, Kazatomprom in January 2009, struck a deal with India’s Nuclear Power Corporation (NPCIL) to deliver 2100 tonnes of uranium to India and conduct a feasibility study on building Indian PHWR reactors in Kazakhstan.

Kazatomprom inked a deal with India’s Department of Atomic Energy in July 2015 to sell 5000 tU to India between 2015 and 2019.

Kazakhstan possesses 12% of the world’s uranium deposits and will generate approximately 21,800 tU in 2021.

It surpassed Russia as the world’s biggest uranium producer in 2009, accounting for about 28% of global output. Kazakhstan produced 43% of the world’s uranium in 2019. 

Kazakhstan and Russia have substantial civil nuclear cooperation. It has civil nuclear cooperation with both Japan and South Korea.

References

1. Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, ‘Uranium rich Kazakhstan mulls building Nuclear Power Plant’, Economic Times, 19 June 2023, https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/power/uranium-rich-kazakhstan-mulls-building-nuclear-power-plant/101093720[↩]