On June 14, Kazakhstan’s Atomic Energy Agency announced that Russia’s Rosatom had been selected to lead construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant.
In a separate statement, agency head Almasadam Satkaliyev said that there were plans to sign a separate agreement with China to construct a second nuclear power plant.
Shortly after an October 2024 referendum on whether Kazakhstan should build a nuclear power plant – which passed in the wake of a heavy-handed government campaign in favor – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev suggested that an international consortium be formed to work on the project. At the time, I argued that “[t]he present geopolitical context makes that highly unlikely.” That geopolitical context remains a high hurdle as Moscow continues to prosecute its war in Ukraine.
Rosatom, Russia’s state atomic company, has been excluded from sanctions since the onset of the Ukraine war, though some policymakers, including in the U.S. have proposed changing course and imposing sanctions.
Kazakhstan’s Atomic Energy Agency preempted critiques that the choice of Rosatom was a political one, stating, “In terms of geopolitical balance, we maintain a neutral stance: the consortium remains open to other technological solutions, and key decisions are made at the interagency level, taking into account national interests and international commitments.”
The June 14 statement said that Kazakhstan would “continue to work with foreign partners to form an effective international consortium for the construction of the first [nuclear power plant] in Kazakhstan,” without providing details.
Rosatom was selected from a shortlist that included China’s China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), France’s Électricité de France (EDF), and South Korea’s Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP). According to Kazakh authorities, “It was determined that the most optimal and effective proposals for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan came from the Russian company Rosatom.”
Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant is slated to be built near Lake Balkhash.
Rosatom’s Director General Alexei Likhachev noted in a statement that the company’s VVER-1200 reactors are already operating in Russia and Belarus and have been selected by partners in Hungary, Egypt, Turkiye, Bangladesh and China.
The announcement of a possible second nuclear power plant, built in cooperation with China, inadvertently (or purposefully) sets up a race between Russia and China, with Kazakhstan the venue and beneficiary.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Astana this week for bilateral meetings and to attend the second Central Asia-China Summit. That timing cannot be easily dismissed.
Satkaliyev’s comments on the second nuclear power plant are illustrative: “Realistically, there are not many countries in the world capable of managing the entire nuclear cycle on their own. And without a doubt, China is one of the few that possesses all the necessary technologies and a strong industrial base. Our next top priority is cooperation with China.”