Photo courtesy of Anadolu
Kazakhstan has taken another step toward building its first nuclear power plant after signing a construction contract with Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom.
The planned Balkhash facility will have two generating units with a combined capacity of 2.4 gigawatts, using Russian-designed VVER-1200 Generation III+ reactors.
The engineering, procurement and construction agreement was signed Thursday on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok by Rosatom subsidiary Atomstroyexport and Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants.
Rosatom will lead an international consortium tasked with carrying the project through design, construction and commissioning.
Preparatory work is already underway at the site, where engineering surveys are being conducted before the project moves into the licensing stage.
Once those studies are completed, the parties are expected to prepare the technical documents needed to obtain approval for construction of the two reactor units.
The project would give Kazakhstan its first commercial nuclear power plant and add a new source of electricity to the country’s energy mix.
The agreement also deepens energy cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia, although Rosatom did not announce a construction start date or target date for the plant to begin operations.