Uranium rich Kazakhstan mulls building Nuclear Power Plant

Uranium-rich Kazakhstan is mulling to build a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and has received several offers including one from its close ally Russia to build the power station. France, South Korea and China have also made offers to Kazakhstan to build NPP.NPP is supposed to be constructed in the Ulken village on the shore of Lake Balkhash in the Almaty Region in 2034-2035. According to Deputy Director of the Kazakh Nuclear Energy and Industry Department of the Energy Ministry Gulmira Mursalova, the construction of NPP with two reactors will cost $10-12 billion, considering seismic strengthening and expansion of infrastructure. This is an estimated cost.

In 2020, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced the country’s pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, which implies the development of NPP and renewable energy sources (RES). According to calculations, the NPP will cover 12% of the country’s energy consumption by 2035. Ausenov also said the automated management system would monitor and control the NPP operation, eliminating the human factor.

In the past Kazakhstan has exported uranium to India. In January 2009 Kazatomprom signed an agreement with India’s Nuclear Power Corporation (NPCIL) to supply 2100 tonnes of uranium to India and undertake a feasibility study on building Indian PHWR reactors in Kazakhstan. In July 2015 Kazatomprom signed an agreement with India’s Department of Atomic Energy to supply 5000 tU to India over the period 2015-2019.

Kazakhstan has 12% of the world’s uranium resources and in 2021 produced about 21,800 tU. In 2009 it became the world’s leading uranium producer, with almost 28% of world production. In 2019, Kazakhstan produced 43% of the world’s uranium. Kazakhstan has strong civil nuclear cooperation with Russia. It has civil nuclear cooperation with Japan as well as South Korea.