Kazakhstan prepares to receive nuclear fuel

/By AzerNews/

By Vusala Abbasova

Kazakhstan plans to start receiving nuclear material to be kept in a low-enriched uranium fuel bank of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in two years, said Timur Zhantikin, the deputy chairman of the Atomic Control Committee at Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry.

Zhantikin added that the actual arrival of nuclear material in Kazakhstan is expected in 2017. He explained the two years gap in the project realization by noting that although the agreement has been signed now, it will still need to go to parliament for ratification.

Then, it will be finalized in terms of technical issues, meaning that it will be once again checked for compliance with the IAEA standards. This lengthy process will mean that the actual arrival of nuclear material in Kazakhstan is expected in 2017, Tengrinews reports.

Zhantikin also noticed that the IAEA Board of Governors will begin work in a week in Vienna. The two draft projects' plan will be considered under the forum. The first project consists of the agreement with Kazakhstan on the bank placement and the second - with the government of neighboring Russia for the transit of nuclear fuel through its territory.

The nuclear fuel bank is expected to be based on Kazakhstan’s Ulba Metallurgical Plant (UMP). UMP is a member of the National Atomic Company Kazatomprom and produces fuel pellets for nuclear power plants.

Astana initiated the placement of a nuclear fuel bank on the territory of Kazakhstan under the auspices of the IAEA in 2009. The bank envisages the storage of low-enriched uranium for the production of fuel elements for nuclear power plant in a gaseous form that does not pose any radiation threat. Any country seeking to develop nuclear energy will be able to apply to Kazakhstan with a request for fuel for its own nuclear power plant.

Kazakhstan holds the second largest uranium reserves in the world. Kazatomprom said earlier that around 5,590 tons of uranium was produced in Kazakhstan in the second quarter of 2013, which represents an increase of 9 percent over the same period in 2012.

Kazatomprom National Atomic Company is the Kazakh national operator for the import and export of uranium and its compounds, rare metals, nuclear fuel for power plants, special equipment, technologies and dual-use materials.

The company's main activities include geological exploration, uranium production, output of nuclear fuel cycle products, construction of reactors and nuclear power plants, non-ferrous metallurgy and production of construction materials, power industry, science, social welfare and personnel training.