Kazakhstan Turns Its Back On Moscow: Contracts For NPPs Given To China

• 31.07.2025, 16:46

Instead of Rosatom, China's CNNC will build nuclear power plants.

China will build two nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Kazakhstan, First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar said during a press conference in the government on Thursday, Orda.kz reports. According to him, now the feasibility study and design estimates of the projects are being developed, so it is premature to name the cost of construction.

"All issues on the intergovernmental agreement, on the form of cooperation are at the stage of coordination, then will be ratified in Parliament," - said the first deputy head of the Kazakh government. Specialists of the Atomic Energy Agency are "working out the locations" of the future stations, where water supply and power generation sources will be available, Sklyar said.

The official did not announce the name of the Chinese company that will implement the project, but it is assumed that the contract will be given to China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), which previously, together with Russia's Rosatom, led consortiums to build facilities in Kazakhstan.

The decision to build the first nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan was made at a referendum in 2024. In June this year, the Atomic Energy Agency reported that the first of the three plants will be built by Rosatom. The facility is supposed to be located in Alma-Ata region (in Ulken village of Zhambyl district on the coast of Lake Balkhash), the NPP commissioning is planned by 2035-2036. By 2035, the Kazakh authorities intend to provide 2.4 gigawatts of nuclear capacity.

Kazakhstan, the world's largest uranium producer, currently does not have its own NPPs and does not consume nuclear cycle products, but its uranium reserves at its deposits, amounting to about 15% of the world's deposits, are second only to Australia's.