Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan Power Up Nuclear Energy Ambitions

by Linda

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are expanding their visions as they move forward with their respective nuclear energy programs. Tashkent is now striving to build larger reactors than originally envisioned, while Kazakh officials are voicing ambitions to take full control over the country’s nuclear fuel cycle.

Uzbekistan’s original plan was to build six small-scale RITM-200N reactors each capable of generating 55 megawatts of power per year. But on September 26, Uzatom, Uzbekistan’s nuclear entity, announced a new blueprint under which two RITM-200N units are planned to be operational by 2029-30, and two much larger VVER-1000 reactors, each capable of generating 1-gigawatt of power annually, will go online in the mid-2030s. 

Rosatom, Russia’s nuclear entity, will build the reactors, to be situated in the Jizzakh Region, as well as provide the nuclear fuel for the facilities, according to two agreements. Financial terms of the deals were not immediately disclosed. “Our project is a bold combination of advanced technologies of low-module plants and time-tested solutions of classical nuclear energy of high power,” an Uzatom statement quoted the agency’s chief, Azim Akhmedkhadjaev, as saying.

Uzbekistan traditionally has had a highly centralized political system, in which decisions from the top are unquestioningly followed. Akhmedkhadjaev, however, claimed that the construction of the nuclear plants will involve public input; hearings will be convened to give citizens an opportunity to raise potential concerns about the social and environmental impact. Based on feedback from those hearings, officials could potentially modify existing plans.

“We have developed a large conceptual program for public hearings and we will start this program soon,” Akhmedkhadjaev said in a speech in Moscow at a nuclear energy event, adding that it was important that citizens are fully informed about the project. “We will not advance anywhere without public opinion.”

While Rosatom has been tapped to expand Uzbekistan’s nuclear energy program, Uzbek authorities seem to be hedging their bets. The same day the Rosatom deals were announced, Uzbek Deputy Foreign Minister Muzaffarbek Madrakhimov signed a nuclear cooperation memorandum of understanding with US Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Brent Christensen. The document outlines an intent to expand nuclear energy cooperation.

The memo, Christensen tweeted, “is in keeping with President [Donald] Trump’s Executive Order to help the US nuclear industry compete worldwide!”

Earlier in September, top Uzbek leaders held talks with the head of China’s National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) on expanding nuclear energy cooperation. Tashkent’s multi-vector approach on the nuclear energy issue may well have enabled Uzbek officials to drive a hard bargain with Rosatom to expand nuclear plant construction plans at a favorable cost.

The Rosatom expansion deals appear to have come together quickly. Only last June, Rosatom signed an agreement to conduct a feasibility study for the construction of VVER-1000 reactors in Uzbekistan.

Kazakhstan, which possesses almost one-seventh of the world’s uranium reserves, also is articulating a desire to widen its nuclear horizons. Kazakhstan currently is proceeding with plans to construct three nuclear reactors, to be built by Rosatom and CNNC.

In a television interview, the head of Kazakhstan’s atomic energy agency, Almassadam Satkaliyev, outlined plans for the country to eventually take control over the entire nuclear fuel cycle.

Kazakhstan’s existing capacity and resources “form a solid foundation for the launch and development of the national nuclear program,” Satkaliyev said. “On their basis, we will continue to develop the chain of the nuclear fuel cycle – from uranium mining and nuclear fuel production to power generation at nuclear plants, strictly adhering to Kazakhstan’s international obligations in the field of peaceful use of nuclear energy.”

An immediate priority, he added, is expanding educational infrastructure to meet the growing need for “qualified specialists” to maintain safe operations at nuclear facilities.

By Eurasianet

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