In June 2019, immediately after his election as President of Kazakhstan, Tokayev spoke about the country’s leadership’s lack of plans to build a nuclear power plant, noting that a referendum would be held on this issue if necessary. In September 2023, noting that “the development of nuclear energy has become a particularly important economic and political issue,” he instructed the country’s government not only to begin a comprehensive discussion of the issue of building a nuclear power plant , but also to submit it to a national referendum. Tokayev returned to the topic of developing nuclear energy in Kazakhstan again on June 27, 2024. During the awards ceremony for media workers in honor of Kazakhstan’s Press Day, the president announced that the referendum would be held this year. “The country has great potential for developing nuclear energy. It is important to use them correctly and effectively. The final decision on this issue will be made by the people. The referendum will take place this fall. The government will determine the exact date,” Tokayev emphasized, inviting the media to more actively participate in the discussion of this topic.
With his appeal, he actually made the topic of building a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan one of the main topics in the media. According to journalists, the government is considering building not one, but three nuclear power plants in the future. “Nuclear energy is presented throughout the world as the most promising type of energy load coverage. In Kazakhstan, there are several effective sites where construction is possible. That is, if we are talking about a large low-power plant, then this is the Balkhash site, there is the Kurchatov site. We have a site where a medium-power plant previously operated in Western Kazakhstan,” noted the Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Almasadam Satkaliyev in a conversation with journalists on the sidelines of a government meeting held on July 16. At the same time, he emphasized that the development of nuclear energy in the country is possible only if this issue is supported by the population in a referendum.
Opponents of nuclear power plants speak of the dangers of construction
As in the mid-1990s, Kazakhstani society is once again divided on the issue of building a nuclear power plant. Economist Aidar Alibayev, in an interview with DW, expressed the opinion that such construction is not economically feasible. “Kazakhstan has enough capacity to generate electricity. But during Nazarbayev’s rule, they have been left in a state of disrepair. We need to fully modernize our thermal and hydroelectric power plants, and eliminate the existing losses in the transmission of electricity. We need to pay more attention to modern renewable energy sources,” Alibayev emphasized. He also believes that Kazakhstan does not have the conditions for building a nuclear power plant. According to DW’s interlocutor, the construction of a nuclear power plant on Balkhash is a mortal threat not only to the ecology of the unique lake, but also to the entire country in the event of an accident due to the peculiarities of the wind rose in this region. “We also do not need nuclear power plants because these are political projects that will deprive our country of independence. Especially if these plants are built by Russia,” Alibayev believes.
Aset Nauryzbayev, who previously held the post of head of the state-owned company for managing electric grids KEGOC, is also definitely against the construction of a nuclear power plant. In his commentary to DW, he noted that nuclear power plants can be considered clearly outdated technologies for generating electricity. “Building a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan means taking a step back in the country’s economic development. Moreover, the cost of generating electricity from renewable sources in the country is already five to six times lower than from a nuclear power plant. We can judge this by the figures for Rosatom’s latest project in Turkey, where the price of one kilowatt-hour is 12.35 cents, while in Kazakhstan from renewable energy sources it is within 2-3 cents. Nuclear technology itself is a product of the Cold War and nuclear weapons,” Nauryzbayev believes. He is confident that the country has the ability to ensure the independence of distributed electricity generation from renewable sources. In addition, Aset Nauryzbayev noted in an interview with DW, the issue of nuclear waste disposal will be removed from the agenda.
Supporters of nuclear power plants: Construction will help eliminate energy deficit
Businessman Chingiz Serikov, who has worked in the energy sector for over 20 years, is, on the contrary, sure that the future energy independence of Kazakhstan is exclusively connected with the development of nuclear energy . He cites several important factors as his main arguments: Kazakhstan is the second country in the world in terms of proven uranium reserves , is in first place in its extraction, and has a developed production of fuel elements, which it exports to various countries. “All that remains is to build a nuclear power plant, which will solve the problem of the existing electricity deficit. We are forced to constantly buy up to 20 percent of all energy consumed in the country from Russia,” Serikov noted in an interview with DW. According to him, modernizing thermal and hydroelectric power plants built between the 1930s and 1950s is too costly an undertaking, since almost everything will have to be replaced, from the equipment to the housings. “Not a single new power plant has been built in Kazakhstan for 30 years. Only near Almaty has the Moinak hydroelectric power plant with a capacity of 300 MW appeared, which is a drop in the ocean for a city with a population of about three million people,” the power engineer emphasized.
Chingiz Serikov does not believe in the potential of renewable energy sources either, saying that he has already encountered their problems in his practice: ” Solar panels become cloudy after three years of operation, which significantly reduces the power of the station. Replacing the huge wind turbine blades is also difficult, as they are subject to serious deformation due to the significant temperature differences typical for our region. There are also problems with their disposal, since renewable energy elements are often made from polymers that have a significant decomposition period,” Serikov shared his observations with DW. He believes that only nuclear power plants built by China or Russia will be able to fully cover the morning and evening peaks in electricity consumption, since the reactors they offer belong to the “four plus” generation, which are “much more modern than reactors in other countries.”
In 2023, the Kazakh Ministry of Energy released information that four companies were among the most likely candidates to build a nuclear power plant in the country. These were the Chinese corporation CNNC, the South Korean KHNP, the French EDF, and the Russian Rosatom.
