Tag Archives: nuclear

THE BRIEFING: Kazakhstan opens nuclear fuel bank

SEPT. 7 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — >> Kazakh President Nazarbayev opened a nuclear fuel bank this week. What is this and what does it mean?

>> A nuclear fuel bank is a secure building that holds low-enriched uranium that can be used to make power. The nuclear fuel bank that has just been opened by Nazarbayev is run by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This means that it is different from others around the world as it is supposedly run by a neutral agency and not by single country.

>> Okay. But why is this important?

>> Nuclear power is a highly politicised form of energy. Nation states have their own agendas and the IAEA-controlled nuclear fuel bank is an attempt to reassure smaller nations that there is an independent supply of low–enriched uranium that they can access if they need to. The IAEA wants to promote nuclear power but it also wants to limit the number of countries that have the capability to enrich uranium. Low-enriched uranium can be used to produce electricity but high-enriched uranium can be used to produce weapons.

>> So what has Kazakhstan got to do with all this?

>> Nazarbayev wants to place Kazakhstan at the vanguard of a drive to make nuclear power around the world safer. He gave up an arsenal of nuclear weapons left over by the Soviet Union when it collapsed in 1991. Since then he has also encouraged Kazakhstan to become the world’s biggest producer of raw uranium. Offering Kazakhstan as a location for an IAEA-controlled nuclear fuel bank was a logical step for him. The fuel bank is located in the east of the country near to the USSR’s former nuclear test site.

>> Who paid for this and should we expect a queue of countries looking to access the low-enriched uranium held in the IAEA’s fuel bank?

>> US billionaire Warren Buffett put in $50 million, the US put up nearly $50 million, the EU around $29 million, Kuwait and the UAE $10m and Norway $5m. Kazakhstan paid in $400,000. It’ll take a year to fill with low-enriched uranium, there is nothing in it at the moment, but even when it is operating don’t expect a queue of countries looking to access it. It is considered a reserve of last resort if a country can’t buy low-enriched uranium on the market. It still has to pass various safety protocols, though. Other nuclear fuel banks, including one next door in Russia that opened in 2010 with IAEA backing, have never been used.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Nazarbayev opens nuclear fuel bank

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ALMATY, AUG. 29 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev opened the first nuclear fuel bank owned and managed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The low-enriched uranium fuel bank based at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Oskemen will be the first independently-managed supply of fuel for nuclear power stations. It will take a year to stock the plant with low-enriched uranium.

For Mr Nazarbayev the opening of the IAEA’s nuclear fuel bank has important inferences, including cementing Kazakhstan’s self-made image as a centre for peaceful nuclear energy.

At the opening ceremony in Astana, Mr Nazarbayev said that the nuclear fuel bank should reduce the risk of nuclear war.

“We are the largest producer of uranium and are ready to play an important role in the world energy,” he was quoted by a government press release as saying.

Over the past 25 years, Mr Nazarbayev has carefully crafted an image for himself as a pioneer of nuclear safety. He voluntarily surrendered an arsenal of nuclear weapons, left over by the Soviet Union after its collapse in 1991, and has pushed Kazakhstan to become the biggest producer of raw uranium in the world. It now has a market share of around 40%.

Some have even suggested that Mr Nazarbayev views the nuclear route as a way of securing a Nobel Peace Prize.

The low-enriched uranium nuclear fuel bank is seen as a resource of last resort for countries that need to secure supplies for nuclear power stations.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Uranium bank to open in August, says Kazakh President

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JULY 3 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev said that a low-enriched Uranium bank will open in eastern Kazakhstan on Aug. 29. The project is being administered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and is being promoted by Kazakh officials and Mr Nazarbayev as yet another contribution by Kazakhstan to world peace. On the day the uranium bank opens, Mr Nazarbayev intends to give out his first international award for nuclear disarmament. He already has his own peace award.

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(News report from Issue No. 336, published on July 16 2017)

Armenia to complete power line

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JUNE 27 2017 (The Bulletin) — Armenia will complete electricity transmissions lines to Iran and Georgia by the end of 2019, media reported quoting the deputy minister of energy, Hayk Harutyunyan. This is important because one of Armenia’s key export potentials is electricity. It operates the only nuclear power station in the region and has export capacity.

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(News report from Issue No. 335, published on July 3 2017)

Rosatom to update Armenia nuclear plant

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YEREVAN, JUNE 13 2017 (The Bulletin) — Russian energy company Rosatom said it was going to start repair works on Armenia’s nuclear power station, Metsamor, next year.

The repair works, which Rosatom has said will extend the lifespan of the nuclear plant to 2026, are controversial because both the European Union and the United States have called on the plant to be decommissioned as it is built in an earthquake-prone area.

Several years ago, the European Union offered Armenia $300m to close down the plant, an offer that the Armenian government, possibly under pressure from Russia, declined.

After meeting Armenian PM Karen Karapetyan, Rosatom director- general said: “Armenia’s nuclear facilities will in fact be thoroughly upgraded. Our common goal today is to move clearly on the agreed schedule, observing the unequivocal priority of quality work and safety requirements.”

For Armenia, the Soviet-built nuclear plant is a vital part of its power generation system, producing around 40% of the country’s electricity.

The deal for the maintenance work to extend the lifespan of Metsamor was agreed in 2014, with Russian finance for the project and Rosatom’s role finalised the following year. Russia agreed to lend Armenia $230m to fund the modernisation scheme and also added a $30m grant.

Rosatom has said that the main focus of their work is the modernisation of the plant’s cooling towers, its turbine unit and control and safety systems.

The original plan for the maintenance work was to schedule it for 2017, closing the plant for six months.

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Kazakhstan’s deal on to send uranium to Iran

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MAY 26 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s nuclear agency Kazatromprom has no plans to renege on a deal to export 950 tonnes of uranium to Iran despite reports in media that the agreement had been cancelled, the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, told media. Kazakhstan is the world’s biggest producer of uranium and has been pushing to increase exports. Media reports had said that the US’ anti-Iran rhetoric had swayed Kazakhstan away from deals with Tehran.

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)

Kazakh uranium enrichment plant to be operational by 2020

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MAY 26 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s first uranium enrichment facility will become operational by 2019, an official at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant told Reuters. The project is a joint venture with China, which will take delivery of the enriched uranium for its nuclear power stations. Kazakhstan produces 40% of the world’s uranium but doesn’t yet have an enrichment facility.

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)

Kazakh nuclear company signs deal with Areva

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APRIL 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s state-owned nuclear company Kazatomprom signed a deal with France’s Areva to strengthen their partnership, an agreement which they said would see them working together for another 20 years. The two companies have worked together since 1996 on their Katco JV.

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(News report from Issue No. 324, published on April 13 2017)

Comment: Kazakh electricity plans

NOV. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh government has cancelled plans to build either a thermal or nuclear power station despite saying for the past decade that an upgrade to its power generating system was vital.

At a press briefing earlier this month in Astana, Kazakh Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said that, despite predictions of the opposite, Kazakhstan actually now has a surplus of power.

“We see no deficit within the next seven years, so we see no [need to build] new facilities such as a nuclear power plant within the next seven years,” he said. This is an important statement for two reasons. Firstly Bozumbayev is doing future generations of Kazakhs a disservice. Secondly he is not being honest with this current generation of Kazakhs.

Both the short-termism and the dishonesty are worrying. Kazakhstan needs more power. Just ask people living in Almaty who have to deal with an increasing number of brownouts. As the country has modernised and grown wealthier, electricity consumption has soared. World Bank data showed that in 2013, Kazakhstan’s per capita electricity consumption was 4,892 kilowatt hours, up from a post-Soviet low in 1999 of 2,838 kilowatt hours.

At the same time, Kazakhstan’s population has grown from just under 15m people in 1999 to just over 17m people in 2015.

Kazakhstan prevaricated for years with various suitors over building a new nuclear power station, its Soviet-era nuclear power station had been decommissioned in 2001, but earlier this year said it had scrapped the idea.

In September, Kazakhstan and Korea’s Samsung also finally admitted that its mothballed $2.5b plan to build a coal-fired power station on the shores of Lake Balkhash to feed electricity to Almaty had also been scrapped.

And here’s the hard truth, the real reason that Kazakh officials said they don’t need a new power station is that Kazakhstan’s finances are currently not up to funding the construction of one.

Last year, Samsung Engineering CEO Park Jung-heum said he had mothballed the Balkhash thermal power project “because of an issue with the Kazakhstan government over the guaranteed purchase of the power to be produced from the project.”

Power generation plans in Kazakhstan have become the latest victim of the economic downturn. The government should admit this and lay plans to boost production as soon as they can afford to.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 305, published on Nov. 18 2016)

Kazakhstan not to consider nuclear plans

NOV. 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s energy minister Kanat Bozumbayev said that the government will not consider proposals to build any new power plants for the next seven years because the country’s energy balance is stable. The issue of building a nuclear or coal-fired power plant has been on and off for years in Kazakhstan. It appears that an economic downturn, which has drained the government’s reserves, has finally snuffed out these plans altogether.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)