Ulba-TVS, a producer of fuel assemblies (FAs) used as final nuclear fuel for Chinese nuclear power plants (NPPs), reported a profit of 11.83 billion tenge ($22 million) in 2025, compared with a loss of 16.06 billion tenge in 2024, according to the company’s financial statements.
Revenue and profitability improve
Gross profit totaled 17.64 billion tenge in 2025, up from 13.54 billion tenge a year earlier. Other operating expenses declined sharply to 820.2 million tenge from 34.2 billion tenge in 2024.
Read also: Kazakhstan eyes Russian finance, Chinese fuel for its upcoming nuclear plants.
As a result, the company’s accumulated loss decreased to 5.4 billion tenge at the end of 2025 from 17.2 billion tenge a year earlier.
Revenue rose to 272.96 billion tenge in 2025 from 163.59 billion tenge in 2024. The increase was driven by the completion of six orders for 456 fuel assemblies, compared with five orders for 380 fuel assemblies in the previous year.
Ownership and operations
Ulba-TVS is jointly owned by the Ulba Metallurgical Plant, a subsidiary of Kazatomprom, which holds a 51% stake, and China General Nuclear Power Corporation Uranium Resources Co. Ltd. (CGNPC-URC).
The company manufactures fuel assemblies based on French and Chinese designs for use in Chinese nuclear power plants. The facility, which began operations in 2022, has an annual production capacity of 400 tons.
Fuel pellets produced by the Ulba Metallurgical Plant serve as feedstock for production. Components used in fuel assemblies — including tubes, grids, end fittings, springs, plugs, bushings, couplings and screws — are supplied by specialized facilities operated by the French company Framatome and by manufacturers in China.
Production volumes increase
In 2025, Ulba-TVS produced 471 fuel assemblies and shipped six orders totaling 456 fuel assemblies to CGNPC-URC.
In 2024, the company reached its planned target of achieving its design production capacity of 200 tons of fuel per year. During that year, it produced 440 fuel assemblies and sold 380. By comparison, in 2023, the company produced 284 fuel assemblies and sold 296.
At the end of 2025, Ulba-TVS had 136 completed fuel assemblies in inventory, with shipment scheduled for 2026.
Kazakhstan considers spent fuel reprocessing
Spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants could potentially be reprocessed in Kazakhstan, Sayabek Sakhiyev, director general of the Institute of Nuclear Physics, previously told Kursiv.media.
According to Sakhiev, the institute is seeking funding for the project, but those efforts have not yet been successful.
