ASTANA: Kazakhstan has settled on a site for the construction of the country’s first nuclear reactor. The next big question is who will build it? The selected location is the village of Ulken, situated on the shore of Lake Balkhash, almost 300 miles northeast of Kazakhstan’s commercial capital Almaty. “The Balkhash site is very promising,” Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev told journalists at a February 26 briefing. “The relevant hearings were held there, but the exact site will be determined after engineering surveys. They are already being conducted. If potential vendors make a proposal to use another site, we will, of course, consider it. But the final decision will be made after the completion of engineering surveys.”
Satkaliyev added that Kazakhstan intends to build three reactors over the medium term. In a major policy speech in January, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev warned of a growing “energy deficit” and called for the creation of a nuclear power “cluster” to ensure the country can remain on a stable economic growth trajectory.
Kazakh officials have stated they will award the construction contract for the Ulken facility by the end of 2025. Presently, the four entities in the running are: Russia’s Rosatom; China’s National Nuclear Corp.; France’s EDF; and (South) Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power.
Kazakh delegations have visited all four countries in recent months to review proposals from the bidders. The most recent presentation, by Rosatom officials, occurred in late January, according to an Energy Ministry statement. The contracting decision will not be based solely on financial considerations but will also consider the “national interests of Kazakhstan, international norms and obligations,” the statement added.
Observers in Kazakhstan widely believe Rosatom has the inside track on securing the contract. But in recent days, there have been indications that a bidder from the United States may seek to enter the tender sweepstakes, if not for the Ulken project then perhaps for other planned reactors.
During a recent conversation between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov, Rubio highlighted Washington’s desire to explore “opportunities for investment in … US civil nuclear energy technologies” in Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan, like Kazakhstan, is intent on building nuclear power stations. Kyrgyzstan has also expressed interest in developing nuclear energy. In mid-2024, Uzbekistan signed an agreement with Russia to build a low-power nuclear reactor with a generating capacity of 55 Megawatts. But Uzbek authorities intend to add more low-power nuclear facilities in the future.
Rubio’s remarks during his discussion with Saidov signal a US intent to compete with Rosatom in Central Asia – not only in Uzbekistan but also in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Uzbek officials have already indicated an openness to forming an international consortium to build a reactor “as efficiently as possible and with the best technologies,” the Gazeta.uz outlet quoted Azim Akhmedkhadzhayev, the head of Uzbekistan’s Atomic Energy Agency, as saying.
