Kazakhstan to decide on NPP construction this year
ASTANA. March 13 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan will decide whether to go ahead with the construction of a nuclear power plant this year, Industry and New Technologies Minister Aset Isekeshev told reporters.
"In general we're not saying no to nuclear power. We have large uranium reserves for the long term. As for the construction of a plant, there'll be a decision this year. So far we are planning that [nuclear power] will account for 4% of total electricity by 2030. But what sort of plant, where, the type of reactor - there are still a lot of opinions to come, taking safety into consideration," Isekeshev said.
Plans for the construction of a nuclear power plant near Lake Balkhash in central Kazakhstan were announced for the first time in 1998. But following angry public protests the project was cancelled. In November 2006, the government adopted a plan to build a nuclear power plant in the Mangistau region, ten kilometers from Aktau, on the premises of the former fast-neutron power generation plant (MAEK). Power generation has been halted there now, the fuel is being recycled and the plant itself has been attached to the national nuclear company Kazatomprom. The decision was made to use medium VBER-300 Russian and foreign-made reactors. Russian specialists pledged to finalize a feasibility study and draw up a financial estimate of the nuclear power plant project in 2009. But in February 2009, the government of Kazakhstan suspended the project pending rifts with Russia over the transfer of intellectual property rights.
A Russian-Kazakh joint venture, Nuclear Power Plants, set up in 2008, is developing the new VBER-300 reactor with new-type energy units, and is promoting the new reactor on the markets of Russia, Kazakhstan and third countries.
Kazatomprom Vice President Sergei Yashin said earlier that the feasibility study for the project to build a nuclear power plant in Aktau is undergoing an appraisal by state experts. The first power generating unit is expected to be launched in 2016.
The reactor facility selected is a 300-megawatt water lumped reactor. Two reactors will be installed. A Kazakh-Russian joint venture has been set up to carry out a feasibility study and to build the station.