Critics question Russia's ability to build Kazakh nuclear power plant
Worries swirl over Rosatom selection, as China's CNNC recruited for 2nd project
Kazakhstan estimates it will face a shortage of 6 gigawatts of energy by 2030. © Reuters
PAUL BARTLETT and NAUBET BISENOV
ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Kazakhstan's recent selection of Rosatom as consortium leader to build the country's first nuclear plant is raising worries about the ability of the Russian state-owned nuclear power agency to finance and complete the project.
Kazakhstan's atomic energy agency said last month that Rosatom had a "slight advantage" over state-owned China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) and so was chosen to lead an unspecified group to build a two-reactor plant in Ulken, a village about 400 kilometers northwest of the commercial hub of Almaty.
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