The first is to be built by a team led by Russian state-owned nuclear engineer Rosatom, the second by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). The other members of the teams were not named, although the Astana Times said Rosatom’s would be “international”.
The other companies in the running were EDF, with its EPR-1200 design, and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power with its APR-1000 and 1400 reactors.
Almassadam Satkaliyev, chair of the Kazakh Nuclear Energy Agency, said that all shortlisted participants offered “unique technologies”, but the proposals by China and Russia were “objectively the most compelling”.
The agency pointed out that Russia and China “were building more than 20 reactors both domestically and abroad. In contrast, France and South Korea are constructing just two each, including APR1400 units in Korea, APR1000 units in the Czech Republic, and EPR1600 reactors in the UK”.
An additional factor in the choice of Russian and Chinese models was Kazakhstan’s interest in developing a closed fuel cycle, in which spent nuclear fuel is reprocessed and reused. Both Russia and China have these systems, as does France.
The Kazakh Nuclear Energy Agency, which was established in March to oversee the projects, said the first plant was expected to be built by 2036. It said: “Global industry standards indicate nuclear power plants typically require 10-12 years from design to commissioning. Accordingly, we anticipate completing construction in 2035-36.”
It added that a general contract would be signed with Rosatom once an intergovernmental agreement had been concluded between Russia and Kazakhstan to deal with “cooperation and financing issues”. Rosatom is expected to build its VVER-1200 pressurised water reactor.
Satkaliyev said this agreement would aim at preventing any dependence on Russian technology. He said the risk of this was “virtually non-existent. All of this is stipulated in the contract”.
Regarding sanctions against Russia, the agency said it was confident they would not affect the scheme, as Rosatom was not on the list of companies targeted. “Nuclear energy is associated with social and humanitarian needs and the climate agenda and is not on the sanctions lists,” it said.
СNNC will lead construction of a Hualong One plant after a general agreement on nuclear cooperation has been signed.
The recently launched design is set to become China’s main export model, with CNNC billing it as “a replicable solution for countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative”.
In 2024, Kazakh citizens voted to approve the construction of nuclear power stations in a national referendum. One factor behind the move to nuclear power is that Kazakhstan is the world’s main supplier of uranium.
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