Kazakhs may build nuclear reactor in Caspian port

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

ASTANA, Apr 30 (Reuters) A proposed nuclear power station in oil-rich Kazakhstan to be built with Japanese help could be located in the Caspian Sea port of Aktau in the west of the country, Kazakhstan's energy minister said today.

An agreement on building the light-water power station was among documents signed during a visit to Kazakhstan by Japanese Trade Minister Akira Amari. There was no immediate word on how soon the reactor might be built.

''In the first place we are looking at economic and technical studies related to building the atomic power station in Aktau,'' Energy and Natural Resources Minister Bakytkozha Izmukhambetov told a joint news conference with Amari.

The government had previously proposed building a nuclear power station on Lake Balkhash, which could have served the biggest city Almaty in the east of the country.

Kazakhstan is a rapidly growing crude oil producer and also the world's No. 3 uranium producer.

It wants to secure 40 per cent of the global uranium market in a decade and has agreements with a number of Japanese companies to jointly mine uranium deposits on its sprawling territory.

The country gave up the arsenal of nuclear weapons stationed there following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

It has no nuclear reactors, having started in 1999 the process of decommissioning a small Soviet-era reactor in Aktau that was used for heat and desalinating water.

REUTERS SS KN1743

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X