French companies are ready to help Kazakhstan build nuclear power plant

From Dec. 4 to 6, a Kazakhstani delegation led by Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev visited France for talks with leading French atomic companies, which expressed their readiness to support the nuclear power plant (NPP) project in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstani officials met with representatives from Électricité de France (EDF), a French operator of nuclear plants; Framatome, an NPP equipment producer; and Arabelle Solutions, a supplier of turbine equipment. The delegation also met with Assystem, a French company specializing in project management and digital solutions for infrastructure facilities, including NPPs.

Kazakhstani officials also visited a crisis center of the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) and a manufacturing site for NPP equipment. France is well known for its nuclear technologies, as NPPs account for 70% of electricity produced in the country.

EDF has been included in the shortlist of potential suppliers of technology for the first NPP in Kazakhstan. In early October, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that the country’s NPP should be built by an international consortium. According to Timur Zhantikin, CEO of Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants, LLC, the consortium will include all companies welcomed by the Ministry of Energy.

In late November, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom was ready to build an NPP in Kazakhstan. He emphasized that Rosatom is the largest contractor in terms of the number of NPPs under construction abroad. However, Putin noted that the final decision is up to «the client.»