The utilization of nuclear power in Kazakhstan began with

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

's first nuclear power plant, the

BN-350 The BN-350 is a Liquid metal cooled reactor, sodium-cooled, fast reactor located at the ''Mangyshlak Nuclear Power Plant'', located in Aktau (formerly known as Taras Shevchenko, Shevchenko under the control of the USSR in 1964–1992), Kazakhsta ...

fast-neutron reactor A fast-neutron reactor (FNR) or fast-spectrum reactor or simply a fast reactor is a category of nuclear reactor in which the fission chain reaction is sustained by fast neutrons (carrying energies above 1 MeV or greater, on average), as oppose ...

Aktau Aktau ( kk, Aqtau, Ақтау , russian: Актау) is a city in Kazakhstan, located on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Its current name means "white mountain" in Kazakh, which may be due to its cliffs that overlook the Caspian. From 1964 to ...

, operating from 1973 to 1999. Since then, it has only operated four smaller research reactors and did not have nuclear electricity production capabilities. Kazakhstan is the number one country in the world for

uranium production Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. Over 50 thousand tons of uranium were produced in 2019. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia were the top three uranium producers, respectively, and together account f ...

volumes, which is used for nuclear fuel. Current plans, reaching back to 1997, foresee the construction of two new nuclear power plants near the towns of Ulken and Kurchatov.

First nuclear reactors

Kazakhstan's first nuclear power reactor was the sodium-cooled

at the Mangyshlak Nuclear Power Plant in Aktau on the shore of the Caspian Sea. Construction began in 1964, when Kazakhstan was still part of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. The plant first produced electricity in 1973 with an output of 350 MWe. In addition, BN-350 was also used for producing plutonium for the nuclear weappons program and for desalination to supply fresh water. Besides the BN-350 power reactor, Kazakhstan has four

research reactor Research reactors are nuclear fission-based nuclear reactors that serve primarily as a neutron source. They are also called non-power reactors, in contrast to power reactors that are used for electricity production, heat generation, or marit ...

s, three at the former

Semipalatinsk Test Site The Semipalatinsk Test Site ( Russian: Семипалатинск-21; Semipalatinsk-21), also known as "The Polygon", was the primary testing venue for the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons. It is located on the steppe in northeast Kazakhstan (then ...

(EWG 1, IGR and RA) and one in Alatau, near the former capital of Almaty (WWR-K). After Kazakhstan's declaration of independence from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in 1991, the territory was denuclearized by returning all nuclear warheads to the Russian Federation in 1994. The Mangyshlak plant's lifetime of the reactor officially finished in 1993, and in June 1994, the reactor was forced to shut down because of a lack of funds to buy fuel. By 1995, the plant's operating license had expired. When plutonium-bearing spent fuel stopped being produced, reactor operations finally ended in 1999. Kazakhstan has long played an important role for nuclear fuel production. Uranium exploration began in 1943. The country has since expanded its

uranium mining Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. Over 50 thousand tons of uranium were produced in 2019. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia were the top three uranium producers, respectively, and together account f ...

capabilities and in 2011 became the largest producer of uranium in the world. Exported uranium from Kazakhstan supplies nuclear reactors of many countries worldwide.

Plans for new reactors

Plans for the construction of new nuclear reactors reach back to 1997, before the final shutdown of BN-350. In 1998 the Kazakh government announced its intentions to construct a new power reactor near lake Balkash, which however was not implemented in the following years. Since 2006, plans for new reactors were discussed with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, and a memorandum of understanding for the construction of reactors was signed with the Russian nuclear corporation

Rosatom Rosatom, ( rus, Росатом, p=rɐsˈatəm}) also known as Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom or Rosatom State Corporation, is a Russian state corporation headquartered in Moscow that speciali ...

in 2014. The first reactor was then foreseen to be sited near Kurchatov. In 2013 Kazakhstan adopted a “Green Economy Concept” to shift its 97% fossil fuel

electricity production Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery (transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its storag ...

to at least 50% renewable and nuclear sources until 2050, and reach full

carbon neutrality Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...

by 2060. To this end, the government commits to the development of nuclear capacities: Nevertheless, the nuclear plant construction was still postponed for a “lack of immediate need” for additional electricity in 2016, but prospected energy requirements show a 1400 MW deficit in the southern zone as early as 2028. An International Atomic Energy Agency report at the government’s request from 2016 declared that “Kazakhstan is well-positioned to continue developing its civilian nuclear program”. From 2019 to 2022 the planning has picked up speed, and several suppliers from different countries have submitted offers for plant constructions. As of 2022 the government was evaluating six potential suppliers:

NuScale Power NuScale Power is a publicly traded American company that designs and markets small modular reactors (SMRs). It is headquartered in Tigard, Oregon, United States. NuScale has been approved to build reactors in Idaho, in 2029 and 2030. The design ...

(USA), US-Japanese consortium of GEH, KHNP (Korea), CNNC (China), Rosatom (Russia) and EDF (France). The current government plan foresees the construction of the first plant with 1200 MW at Ulken near lake Balkash, and the second plant at Kurchatov with 2× 300 MW. Until 2035 Kazakhstan wants to have 2.4 GW of

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...

capacity.

References

{{Asia topic, Nuclear energy in Nuclear power in Kazakhstan

Nuclear technology in Kazakhstan Electric power in Kazakhstan

Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...