The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan considers the building of nuclear power plant in the republic perspective taking into account possible deficit of electricity, Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Bolat Akchulakov said at a briefing on Monday.
"Given the upcoming shortage of electricity, the need to reduce dependence on coal-fired generation in view of the global environmental agenda, Kazakhstan's statement on carbon neutrality, and given the current depreciation of production facilities, the huge potential for the development of nuclear power in the country, in our view, the construction of a nuclear power plant seems the most promising solution," Akchulakov said.
On February 8, at an expanded government meeting, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the country needs to build a nuclear power plant to maintain leadership in the region and invest in the economy.
The issue of Russia building a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan was first raised in 2019 at a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the president of Kazakhstan. The Russian leader offered Tokayev to build a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan according to a Russian project.
At the end of December 2021, Magzum Mirzagaliyev, the head of the Kazakh Ministry of Energy, said that the Kazakh authorities are considering two geographical locations for the potential construction of a nuclear power plant - the village of Ulken in the Almaty region and the city of Kurchatov in the East Kazakhstan region. He emphasized that the final decision on the choice of the site has not been made yet. In early February, Akchulakov said that no specific decision on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan had been made yet.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
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Based on materials from TASS