Rosatom to build Kazakhstan's first N-power plant
Kazakhstan seeks 2.4 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2035 as it had voted for a nuclear power plant last year
Published: 04:06 PM,Jun 14,2025 | EDITED : 08:06 PM,Jun 14,2025
An aerial view shows the village of Ulken and the proposed nuclear power plant site near the village of Ulken, located on the shores of Lake Balkhash, about 400 kilometres north of Almaty, the place where the first country's nuclear power plant is planned to be built. — AFP
ASTANA: Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has been tapped to lead an international consortium to build the first nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan, the Central Asian country's atomic energy agency said on Saturday.
Other proposals came from the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation, as well as French and South Korean companies.
'We welcome Kazakhstan's decision to start the nuclear power plant construction project,' Rosatom's chief executive officer Alexei Likhachev said in a statement posted on Saturday to the company's Telegram channel.
'The result will be the construction of a nuclear power plant based on the most advanced and efficient design in the world, which is based on Russian technology.'
It was not immediately clear which other companies would participate in the Rosatom-led consortium, nor the cost and timeline of Rosatom's proposal.
Likhachev said the plant would employ VVER-1200 Generation 3+ reactors, a technology developed in Russia and used both domestically and abroad.
The two-reactor plant will be built in the village of Ulken, about 250 miles northwest of Almaty, the commercial capital. Kazakhstan plans to have 2.4 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2035.
The oil- and gas-rich nation of 20 million has not had any nuclear power generation capacity since 1999 when the BN-350 reactor on the shores of the Caspian Sea was decommissioned.
The Kazakh atomic energy agency, established this March, said it had reviewed various proposals for reactor technologies and assessed them based on nuclear power plant safety, personnel training and other criteria.
The agency 'determined that the most optimal and advantageous proposals for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan were those received from the Russian company Rosatom,' it said.
'Currently, in accordance with Rosatom's proposals, work has begun on the issue of attracting state export financing from the Russian Federation.'
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Kazakhstan in November and discussed boosting energy and industry ties with the country, which exports most of its oil through Russia but is exploring alternatives. — Reuters
Other proposals came from the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation, as well as French and South Korean companies.
'We welcome Kazakhstan's decision to start the nuclear power plant construction project,' Rosatom's chief executive officer Alexei Likhachev said in a statement posted on Saturday to the company's Telegram channel.
'The result will be the construction of a nuclear power plant based on the most advanced and efficient design in the world, which is based on Russian technology.'
It was not immediately clear which other companies would participate in the Rosatom-led consortium, nor the cost and timeline of Rosatom's proposal.
Likhachev said the plant would employ VVER-1200 Generation 3+ reactors, a technology developed in Russia and used both domestically and abroad.
The two-reactor plant will be built in the village of Ulken, about 250 miles northwest of Almaty, the commercial capital. Kazakhstan plans to have 2.4 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2035.
The oil- and gas-rich nation of 20 million has not had any nuclear power generation capacity since 1999 when the BN-350 reactor on the shores of the Caspian Sea was decommissioned.
The Kazakh atomic energy agency, established this March, said it had reviewed various proposals for reactor technologies and assessed them based on nuclear power plant safety, personnel training and other criteria.
The agency 'determined that the most optimal and advantageous proposals for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan were those received from the Russian company Rosatom,' it said.
'Currently, in accordance with Rosatom's proposals, work has begun on the issue of attracting state export financing from the Russian Federation.'
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Kazakhstan in November and discussed boosting energy and industry ties with the country, which exports most of its oil through Russia but is exploring alternatives. — Reuters