Kazakhstan continues to study various technologies, including for the construction of a NPP, Kazakh Energy Minister Bolat Akchulakov told reporters on the sidelines of a forum on the development of oil and gas engineering. “We are not saying that we are going to build a NPP with Russia. We are saying that we are studying technologies, natural resources, climate. All available, safest technologies are being considered,” Akchulakov said, answering a question about the advisability of cooperation with Rosatom. He noted that "Russian developments are considered the most advanced, according to work experience and safety standards – too."
The topic of building a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan has been discussed for many years. At the same time, its discussion has intensified recently, in face of a potential shortage of electricity in the future, despite it being unpopular among the population. The construction, according to the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan, can take up to 10 years, the cost of one power unit is on average $5 billion. In the forecast energy balance Kazakhstan to 2035, one of the options is the commissioning of a NPP with a total capacity of 2.4GWe.
Kazakhstan is looking at technologies for both conventional plants and small modular reactors (SMRs) from six global suppliers: NuScale Power’s SMR (USA); GE-Hitachi’s with BWRX-300 SMR (USA-Japan); Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power’s APR-1000 and APR-1400 reactors; China National Nuclear Corporation’s HPR-1000 and CNP-600+ reactors; Rosatom’s VVER-1200 and VVER-1000 and EDF’s ATMEA1 reactor (France).
Image: Kazakhstan's Energy Minister, Bolat Akchulakov (Source: Interfax)
