The construction cost of the first nuclear power plant (NPP) with a capacity of 2.4 gigawatts will be at least $14 billion, according to Almassadam Satkaliyev, head of Kazakhstan’s Agency for Atomic Energy (AAE). The statement followed the official bidding process to select a contractor for the project, during which Russia’s Rosatom was chosen as the leader of an international consortium to build the country’s first NPP.
«The final cost will be specified based on the results of a technical and economic feasibility study. All we have now are indicative values provided by the vendors that participated in the bidding process. Although we cannot reveal the details due to non-disclosure agreements, international practice suggests that a plant of this scale may cost at least $14 billion,» Satkaliyev emphasized.
The official also declined to comment on the possibility that China’s CNNC, the leader of the second NPP consortium, could complete construction faster than Rosatom. Earlier this month, Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Minister Roman Sklyar had suggested such a scenario was possible.
«I would prefer not to comment on this. Each plant’s construction process is unique. All vendors have considerable experience implementing such projects. However, I can say that the selection of Russia as the leader of the international consortium was partly based on the construction timelines they proposed. We will be able to comment more specifically on both the construction cost and the timeline once negotiations with our Chinese counterparts are completed,» Satkaliyev stated.
According to him, Kazakhstan is still negotiating with all other bidders, including France and South Korea.
«Each of them has expressed preliminary interest in participating in the consortium,» the official said.
As he explained, an intergovernmental agreement will be signed after negotiations are finalized, which is expected to happen by the end of 2025. The terms of a concessionary loan from Russia for the NPP’s construction will be determined by the countries’ ministries of Finance, he added.
The official also commented on the indicative construction timeline, stating that the facility is expected to be completed within seven years from the date the contractor begins on-site construction. Previously, the Ministry of Energy had estimated a construction timeline of around 10 years.
«The indicative timeline for NPP construction is seven years starting from the moment of entry to the construction site,» Satkaliyev said in response to reporters’ inquiries.
The village of Ulken, in the Zhambyl district of Kazakhstan’s Almaty region, has been chosen as the site for the first nuclear plant. The facility will have a total capacity of 2.4 gigawatts: two 1.2-gigawatt reactors. Located on the shores of Lake Balkhash, the site was selected due to the availability of a large water source needed to cool nuclear reactors. Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev confirmed that VVER-1200 reactors are under consideration, praising Kazakhstan’s decision to adopt Rosatom’s technology.
Meanwhile, potential sites under consideration for the second plant include the city of Kurchatov in the East Kazakhstan region and Aktau in the Mangystau region, where the BN-350 reactor operated from the 1970s through the 1990s, generating electricity and desalinating water from the Caspian Sea.
