Kazakhstan Pushes to Accelerate Nuclear Power Plant Construction Timeline

Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry plans to ask official vendors to accelerate the construction of the country’s first-ever nuclear power plant, Minister Almassadam Satkaliyev announced.

According to Satkaliyev, construction of the first nuclear power plant block takes 10-12 years on average taking into account that there are no any significant risks, The Caspian Post reports, citing Kazakh media.

"We understand that technologies always move forward; there are the best practices when nuclear technologies can be replicated. Taking into account the global average terms, we will ask official vendors to speed up the execution time, so as the first nuclear power plant block is built in 8 years," said Satkaliyev.

The speaker went on to add that Kazakhstan needs at least three nuclear power plants to boost its nuclear industry. Satkaliyev revealed the Energy Ministry’s plans to localize in Kazakhstan a uranium conversion cycle.

"To benefit fully from all the opportunities we have, it’s necessary to build at least three nuclear power plants, which is technically true," said the minister.

As earlier reported, Kazakhstan has trained 4,500 nuclear power specialists since 2000.