Tag Archives: nuclear

Kazakhstan to accept low-enriched uranium

JUNE 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan will start to take shipments of low-grade enriched uranium from 2017, Timur Zhantikin, an official in the Kazakh energy ministry said, two years after original hoped-for start date.

Uranium has been an important part of Kazakhstan’s post-Soviet story. When it became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakhstan inherited a batch of nuclear weapons. Rather than selling them, abandoning them or hoarding them, Kazakhstan turned the nuclear weapons over to the US to be deposed of safely, winning plaudits around the world.

Since then, eager to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has promoted Kazakhstan as a leader in nuclear-disarmament.

Now it has struck a deal with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the world’s nuclear watchdog, to host a bank of low grade enriched uranium.

Countries can apply for enriched uranium if projects have been approved for peaceful purposes.

The two year delay in setting up the nuclear bank is only a minor nuisance. It should still be a boon to Kazakhstan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 234, published on June 4 2015)

Head of Kazakhstani nuclear agency dies on China trip

MARCH 25 2015, ALMATY (The Conway Bulletin) — Nurlan Kapparov, a key member of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s inner cortege and head of the Kazakh nuclear agency Kazatomprom, died of a suspected heart attack while on a business trip to Beijing. He was 44-years-old.

Slick and Western-educated, Kapparov was part of the post-Soviet wave of loyal bureaucrats who helped Nazarbayev retain his grip on power. Having headed state energy company KazakhOil, been Kazakhstan’s environment minister and, most recently, head of the state nuclear agency KazAtomProm, sources said that Kapparov had the potential to be a senior government minister.

While he never openly showed such lofty ambition, his presence in and around the government was keenly felt. He acted in the shadows, influencing Kazakhstan’s transition to a more nationalist energy policy. In 2000, as a young vice-minister of energy he was able to negotiate an increase in Kazakhstan’s share of the Tengiz oil field, to the detriment of the US’s Chevron.

Kapparov was also a powerful businessman. The Lancaster Group — which can be traced back to him — is the conduit through which several joint ventures with oil and mining multinationals accessed the Kazakh market. With strong ties to ENI and Saipem, Kapparov had been president of the Kazakhstan-Italy Business Council.

Kapparov had been in China together with Kazakh PM Karim Massimov to strike a handful of multi-billion dollars deals. Ahead of the main deal-making day, he was discovered on the floor of a lavatory in a Beijing restaurant. He had died of a suspected heart attack.

Hundreds gathered in Almaty to mourn his death at the Academy of Sciences although, importantly, veterans and state officials were bussed in to increase attendance. The divide between the government and ordinary people in Kazakhstan is such that enough the sudden death of senior officials is greeted with indifference.

Ambition and acumen brought Kapparov to power and his loss will be felt by the government.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)

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Toshiba looking to build Kazakh nuclear power station

JAN. 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Japanese industrial conglomerate Toshiba is negotiating with Kazakhstan to build a new nuclear reactor, media reported. Kazakhstan has been looking to build a new nuclear power station for years. It has earmarked a position for the power station but not yet started work.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)

Russia helps on new nuclear plant in Kazakhstan

May 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) -Kazakhstan signed a deal with Russia to build a new nuclear plant in Kurchatov, a city in the north-east of the country. Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev has said for years that he wanted to build another nuclear power plant, although the location and partners needed to build it had not been specified.

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(News report from Issue No. 187, published on JUNE 4 2014)

Kazakhstan’s police arrests Kazatomprom executive

APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh police arrested Valery Shevelyov, a director at Kazakh nuclear agency Kazatomprom, and his deputy, Serik Abdrazakov, for corruption. In 2009, Kazakhstan jailed Mukhtar Dzhakishev, then head of Kazatomprom and an opposition figurehead, for 14 years for corruption.

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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Kazakhstan buys nuclear assets

NOV. 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Igor Shkolnik, son of the head of Kazakhstan’s nuclear agency Kazatomprom, has bought a 14.9% stake in Russia’s Exillon Energy for about $115m, media reported. In 2011 Mr Shkolnik bought a stake in the Orsk refinery, Russia, from Rosneft. Analysts say he holds these investments for powerful members of the Kazakh elite.

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(News report from Issue No. 162, published on Nov. 27 2013)

Armenia expands nuclear power plant lifetime

SEPT. 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Overriding concerns from the EU, Armenia said it would extend the lifespan of its Metsamor nuclear power plant to 2026. The lifespan of the Soviet-era Metsamor, built 30km west of Yerevan in an area prone to earthquakes, had already been extended last year to 2020 from 2016. Metsamor provides 40% of Armenia’s power.

(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

Iran nuclear talks held in Kazakhstan

APRIL 7 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A second round of negotiations in Almaty between Iran and a US-led group ended without a resolution to the long-running dispute over the Iranian nuclear programme. Participants, though, praised Kazakhstan for the smooth running of the discussions.

(News report from Issue No. 131, published on April 12 2013)

Kazakhstan and Iran in nuclear talks

APRIL 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Negotiators converged on Almaty for a second round of talks aimed at unlocking the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme. These two-day talks are a follow up to negotiations in February. Iran has said that it is developing nuclear capability for civilian purposes but the US suspects that it wants to build a bomb.

(News report from Issue No. 130, published on April 5 2013)

Kazakh atomic agency increases uranium production

JAN. 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh atomic agency, Kazatomprom, announced another new production high for uranium last year, underlining Kazakhstan’s importance to the global nuclear industry. In 2012, Kazatomprom, said that Kazakhstan produced 20,900 tonnes of uranium, up from 19,450 tonnes in 2010 and representing 37% of world supplies.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 121, published on Jan. 25 2013)