Russia has reached an agreement to build a new nuclear plant in neighboring Kazakhstan, the world's leading uranium producer that nonetheless has not hosted a power reactor since 1999.
Rosatom and Kazatomprom formalized a memorandum of understanding Thursday in a ceremony overseen by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Russian state-controlled news service Ria Novosti reported that the agreement envisions a plant in Kurchatov generating between 300 and 1,200 megawatts. Rosatom will provide the reactor technology, in addition to fuel, maintenance services and training. The next stage of negotiations is expected to take up to 18 months.
Kazakhstan produced 38 percent of the uranium mined worldwide in 2013 and holds an estimated 12 percent of the world's reserves, according to the World Nuclear Association. The country's sole nuclear plant consisted of a Russian-designed fast reactor that produced about 135 megawatts and 80,000 daily metric tons of desalinated water in Aktau for 27 years.