Kazakhstan defines a place to host its first nuclear power plant

It will take about a year and half to prepare all the documents required to construct the first ever nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan in partnership with Russia; technical features of the reactor will be defined within the nearest half a year, Russia’s RIA Novosti reports, citing Sergei Kirienko, Head of RoasAtom.

“The prep period will take a year and half; within that timeframe the sides will prepare a feasibility study, estimate the environment impact (…) and the investments needed”, he elaborated.

According to him, “a nuclear unit capable of 1 000 megawatt costs around $5 billion (…) technical parameters of the nuclear power plant to be constructed in Kazakhstan are to be defined within a year and half”.

Russia and Kazakhstan intend to sign a memorandum to construct a nuclear power plant based on water-moderated reactors designed by Russia in the Kazakh city of Kurchatov. The document will also define nuclear fuel supplies, including production of the fuel or its parts in Kazakhstan, maintenance of the facility, personnel training.
Earlier the country’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev commissioned the Government to decide before the end of the Q1 2014 on the location, sources of investments and timing of constructing a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan.

In his Address to the Nation at the start of the year, President Nursultan Nazarbayev elaborated why Kazakhstan needs to construct a nuclear power plant.

He emphasized that the future lies with nuclear power. “To use natural gas is a waste of resources. Instead, the gas could be used to produce high value added products. Kazakhstan is a global supplier of uranium (…) we do have all the capabilities [to develop the nuclear power industry]. Nuclear power is a clean energy we should take advantage of”, Nazarbayev said at the time.

“There may be more than one nuclear power plants (…) Their construction is not going to be cheap. Despite potential hazards, more than half of power generated in West Europe comes from nuclear power plants; Japan is not halting its nuclear power industry, either”.

Tengrinews.kz reported earlier, citing KazAtomProm’s Press Service, that Kazakhstan retains its title of the uranium production leader as it supplies about 37% of uranium to global markets. The global market’s capacity is estimated at 55 700 tons. The uranium production output in Kazakhstan made up 20 900 tons in 2012. In 2011 the country’s share in global uranium supplies stood at 35%.