Kazakhstan Voters Show Support for Country's First Nuclear Power Plant
Voters in Kazakhstan reportedly have approved a plan that would bring the country its first nuclear power plant. Election officials said 70% of voters in a referendum held October 6 support the strategy promoted by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who has said nuclear power is a way to move the country away from reliance on coal-fired generation.
Tokayev’s plan has faced criticism because of fears Russia would be involved in the development of nuclear power in Kazakhstan. Reports have said that China, France, Russia, and South Korea are countries whose technology and expertise is being considered for development of a nuclear facility. Tokayev on Sunday said he preferred an “international consortium made up of global companies equipped with cutting-edge technologies.”
The president has said that Kazakhstan, as one of the world’s biggest producers of uranium, needs to supplement its energy supply with nuclear power to ensure reliability of electricity. The former Soviet republic, though, does not enrich its uranium to a point where it can be used as nuclear fuel. The country does have three operating research reactors.
“In order not to remain on the sidelines of global progress, we must use our competitive advantages,” Tokayev said prior to Sunday’s vote, which asked the question: “Do you agree with the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan?” The country, which is trying to grow its use of wind and solar power and also utilizes hydropower, has long relied on coal for most of its generation. The country received about half of its power from coal-fired plants in 2023, according to government data.
Tokayev has previously said that Kazakhstan is in “dire need of reliable and environmentally-friendly” energy. The president, meeting with media after Sunday’s vote, said, “This is not an easy problem. The government should analyse and conduct appropriate negotiations. In my opinion, an international consortium consisting of world companies with the most advanced technologies should work in Kazakhstan.”
Natural Gas and Renewables
Natural gas-fired plants account for about a 27% share of electricity production. Hydropower is the largest renewable resource, providing about 8% of the power supply, with wind and solar at about 5%.
Kazakhstan also imports electricity, mostly from Russia.
Cabinet officials in the Kazakhstan government have estimated that a nuclear power plant could be built in the country for between $10 billion and $12 billion. Officials have said they expect the project developers would finance construction. The government has said a plant would be sited near the sparsely populated village of Ulken on the shores of Lake Balkhash, in the southeast region of the country.
Concerns about Russian involvement stem from years of Soviet nuclear weapons tests in the country, which left those areas uninhabitable. Workers from Kazakhstan also were involved in the cleanup of the Chernobyl nuclear site after the 1986 disaster there, which reportedly left many with health issues.
Tokayev, who was elected president in 2019, has said a nuclear power plant would be “the biggest project in the history of independent Kazakhstan.” The country declared independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).