Survey Work Begins in Kazakhstan for Russia-Built Nuclear Power Plant
Work has officially begun in the village of Ulken, in Almaty Region on the shore of Lake Balkhash, on Kazakhstan's first nuclear power plant. It will be at least a decade before the plant is completed, and officials say the total investment in the project will be around $14-15 billion.
While Russia was selected to take the lead on constructing Kazakhstan's first nuclear power plant, China is slated to take the lead on two additional power plants.
On Friday, Kazakh government officials — including the head of Kazakhstan's Atomic Energy Agency, Almasadam Satkaliyev, and Marat Sultangaziyev, akim of Almaty Region — and Alexey Likhachev, director general of Russia's Rosatom, marked the launch of the project with a groundbreaking ceremony which involved drilling for a soil sample.
In his remarks, as reported by Kazinform, Satkaliyev stated that the ceremonial start of the project marks the beginning of engineering and survey work. A Rosatom press release stated that initial work will focus on determining an optimal site and preparing designs.
'The launch of engineering surveys in Ulken marks the beginning of the journey toward the first high-capacity nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan's modern history,' Likhachev said.
In October 2024, Kazakhstan held a referendum on the question of whether the country should pursue the construction of a nuclear power plant. The nuclear question in Kazakhstan is particularly fraught. On the one hand, nuclear power is attractive and within reach. Kazakhstan is believed to possess 12 percent of global uranium reserves and, as of 2022, produced 43 percent of the world's uranium. But Kazakhstan was the site of 456 nuclear tests carried out by the Soviet Union between 1949 and 1989 at the Semipalatinsk facility. All issues nuclear are especially sensitive.
Although the referendum passed with over 70 percent in favor, the information campaigns and debates ahead of the vote were constricted.
As I remarked in September 2024 ahead of the referendum:
Given Kazakhstan's constrained political environment, the ultimate vote may not adequately reflect the complexity of public opinion on the issue. Referendums in Kazakhstan don't fail: Constitutional referendums in 1995 and 2022 passed easily, and a 1995 referendum on extending Nazarbayev's first post-independence term passed with 96 percent in favor.
As has happened before various referendums and elections, activists in opposition to the proposals have found themselves under pressure.
Activists campaigning against the nuclear power plant did, indeed, meet with pressure and in some cases detention.
In June, Rosatom was selected by the Kazakh authorities to take the lead on the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant, beating out China's China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), France's Électricité de France (EDF), and South Korea's Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP).
That announcement was paired with news that China would take the lead on constructing Kazakhstan's second nuclear power plant. In August, Kazakhstan's First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar said that CNNC would also build Kazakhstan's third nuclear power plant.
There are few details about the latter two projects, with some reports suggesting sites such as Kurchatov, adjacent to the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan's east, and Aktau, once home to a Soviet-era BN-350 fast neutron reactor, in the country's west.
Sklyar suggested that locations could be identified before the end of the year.
With regard to the Rosatom project, Sklyar said intergovernmental negotiations were ongoing and that once finalized, the agreement would be submitted to parliament for ratification. He also outlined the general plans: The Ulken plant is envisioned to include two units 'with a combined capacity of 2.4 GWe and is expected to be operational by 2035.'
Nuclear power is of considerable interest across the region, which struggles with imbalanced energy resources, aging or poorly modernized infrastructure, and increasing demand for electricity. Oil and gas-rich Kazakhstan imports electricity from Tajikistan, as does Uzbekistan. Both also import gas from Russia, and both are collaborating with Rosatom on nuclear power plants.
A 330-megawatt nuclear power plant, with six reactors, is to be built in Uzbekistan's Jizzakh Region. Agreements were signed in May 2024 between Rosatom and UzAtom. The first concrete is scheduled for pouring in March 2026.
Neighboring Kyrgyzstan is also eyeing nuclear power to address its growing energy demands. In November 2022, Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement with Rosatom to conduct a feasibility study on the possibility of constructing a small-capacity nuclear power plant. In June 2024, Kyrgyzstan's authorities lifted a 2019 ban on uranium mining. Earlier this year, the results of the Rosatom feasibility study were submitted to Kyrgyzstan.
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The Diplomat
2 days ago
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Survey Work Begins in Kazakhstan for Russia-Built Nuclear Power Plant
A groundbreaking ceremony marked the formal start of the project, which could take a decade to complete and require investment of $15 billion. Work has officially begun in the village of Ulken, in Almaty Region on the shore of Lake Balkhash, on Kazakhstan's first nuclear power plant. It will be at least a decade before the plant is completed, and officials say the total investment in the project will be around $14-15 billion. While Russia was selected to take the lead on constructing Kazakhstan's first nuclear power plant, China is slated to take the lead on two additional power plants. On Friday, Kazakh government officials — including the head of Kazakhstan's Atomic Energy Agency, Almasadam Satkaliyev, and Marat Sultangaziyev, akim of Almaty Region — and Alexey Likhachev, director general of Russia's Rosatom, marked the launch of the project with a groundbreaking ceremony which involved drilling for a soil sample. In his remarks, as reported by Kazinform, Satkaliyev stated that the ceremonial start of the project marks the beginning of engineering and survey work. A Rosatom press release stated that initial work will focus on determining an optimal site and preparing designs. 'The launch of engineering surveys in Ulken marks the beginning of the journey toward the first high-capacity nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan's modern history,' Likhachev said. In October 2024, Kazakhstan held a referendum on the question of whether the country should pursue the construction of a nuclear power plant. The nuclear question in Kazakhstan is particularly fraught. On the one hand, nuclear power is attractive and within reach. Kazakhstan is believed to possess 12 percent of global uranium reserves and, as of 2022, produced 43 percent of the world's uranium. But Kazakhstan was the site of 456 nuclear tests carried out by the Soviet Union between 1949 and 1989 at the Semipalatinsk facility. All issues nuclear are especially sensitive. Although the referendum passed with over 70 percent in favor, the information campaigns and debates ahead of the vote were constricted. As I remarked in September 2024 ahead of the referendum: Given Kazakhstan's constrained political environment, the ultimate vote may not adequately reflect the complexity of public opinion on the issue. Referendums in Kazakhstan don't fail: Constitutional referendums in 1995 and 2022 passed easily, and a 1995 referendum on extending Nazarbayev's first post-independence term passed with 96 percent in favor. As has happened before various referendums and elections, activists in opposition to the proposals have found themselves under pressure. Activists campaigning against the nuclear power plant did, indeed, meet with pressure and in some cases detention. In June, Rosatom was selected by the Kazakh authorities to take the lead on the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant, beating out China's China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), France's Électricité de France (EDF), and South Korea's Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP). That announcement was paired with news that China would take the lead on constructing Kazakhstan's second nuclear power plant. In August, Kazakhstan's First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar said that CNNC would also build Kazakhstan's third nuclear power plant. There are few details about the latter two projects, with some reports suggesting sites such as Kurchatov, adjacent to the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan's east, and Aktau, once home to a Soviet-era BN-350 fast neutron reactor, in the country's west. Sklyar suggested that locations could be identified before the end of the year. With regard to the Rosatom project, Sklyar said intergovernmental negotiations were ongoing and that once finalized, the agreement would be submitted to parliament for ratification. He also outlined the general plans: The Ulken plant is envisioned to include two units 'with a combined capacity of 2.4 GWe and is expected to be operational by 2035.' Nuclear power is of considerable interest across the region, which struggles with imbalanced energy resources, aging or poorly modernized infrastructure, and increasing demand for electricity. Oil and gas-rich Kazakhstan imports electricity from Tajikistan, as does Uzbekistan. Both also import gas from Russia, and both are collaborating with Rosatom on nuclear power plants. A 330-megawatt nuclear power plant, with six reactors, is to be built in Uzbekistan's Jizzakh Region. Agreements were signed in May 2024 between Rosatom and UzAtom. The first concrete is scheduled for pouring in March 2026. Neighboring Kyrgyzstan is also eyeing nuclear power to address its growing energy demands. In November 2022, Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement with Rosatom to conduct a feasibility study on the possibility of constructing a small-capacity nuclear power plant. In June 2024, Kyrgyzstan's authorities lifted a 2019 ban on uranium mining. Earlier this year, the results of the Rosatom feasibility study were submitted to Kyrgyzstan.
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Swindler or Scapegoat? Provisional Verdict Announced in Large-Scale Kazakh Embezzlement Case
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The organization, established at the end of World War II to secure international peace, now finds itself hampered by funding cuts and inefficiencies. A recent U.N. report found that its own reports were not widely read. Facing such challenges, the SDG Regional Center signifies U.N. efforts to optimize resources by localizing efforts and recognizing that 'one-size-fits-all' approaches do not work. 'The powers and functions of this Center will not overlap with the activities of other organizations either within the region or beyond,' said Tokayev. 'On the contrary, the Center will complement the efforts already undertaken, bringing additional value by focusing on the real needs of the residents of the entire region.' He noted that it is necessary to enhance collaboration to address shared challenges, such as the environmental degradation of the Aral Sea and the shrinking of the Caspian Sea. Why Kazakhstan? Tokayev first proposed the center at the U.N. in 2019 and has continued to advocate for it as part of Kazakhstan's broader development diplomacy. Over the years, the country has aimed to deepen its engagement with multilateral institutions, looking to position itself as a convener of dialogue in a region often shaped by geopolitical fault lines. It has hosted major international summits for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, the latter originally proposed by Kazakhstan itself. In 2017, it launched the 'Astana Process,' providing a diplomatic platform for discussions on the Syrian crisis. And last year, Almaty hosted talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Through these initiatives, Kazakhstan is aiming to build credibility as a neutral facilitator capable of bringing diverse actors to the table, whether in the context of security, regional cooperation, or humanitarian dialogue. The establishment of the U.N. Regional Center in Almaty is a natural extension of this trajectory for Kazakhstan. The city already hosts 18 U.N. agencies, therefore offering infrastructure, security, and regional accessibility. In addition, Kazakhstan maintains stable and pragmatic relations with all its neighbors, including major powers that are often in tension with one another: Russia, China, the United States, and the European Union. Rather than aligning too closely with any one bloc, Kazakhstan has cultivated diplomatic flexibility, allowing it to host dialogues and initiatives that might be politically untenable elsewhere. In the context of the new SDG Regional Center, this positioning is particularly valuable: Kazakhstan's neutrality makes it an accessible host for a U.N. body intended to serve a diverse set of countries, including conflict-affected Afghanistan. Why Central Asia Needs an SDG Center Central Asia continues to deal with significant climate and ecological vulnerabilities. Kyrgyzstan's Tajikistan's glaciers are melting, over 20 percent of Central Asian soil is degraded, facing worsening desertification, and without coordinated action, the risk of widespread desertification will continue to grow. Water scarcity also remains unresolved – three in 10 Central Asians live without ready access to clean water. With river systems such as the Syr Darya and Amu Darya crossing multiple national boundaries, any meaningful solution requires regional cooperation rather than isolated national interventions. In this regard, Tokayev announced that Kazakhstan will host a Regional Environment Summit in Astana in April 2026 in partnership with U.N. agencies. Furthermore, Afghanistan remains a pressing concern for the region. Since the Taliban's return to power in 2021, Central Asian governments have cautiously expanded diplomatic and economic engagement with Kabul, seeking to maintain stability along their southern borders while avoiding overt political alignment. These efforts have included high-level meetings, humanitarian aid, and targeted infrastructure investments, particularly from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. However, the absence of a coordinated regional framework has limited the coherence of these initiatives. The establishment of the SDG Regional Center in Almaty can address this gap. As noted by Tokayev, 'Kazakhstan remains committed to supporting the Afghan people through humanitarian aid, educational projects, trade development and food security initiatives. The volume of trade between our countries is steadily growing. We are convinced that peace and development in Afghanistan must go hand in hand.' Overall, the SDG Center can act as a regional integrator, allowing it to be a hub for coordinating U.N. agencies, donors, and local governments while providing technical support for tracking SDG implementation. Most importantly for Central Asia, the center can further elevate the region's voice in the U.N. by clarifying its priorities and aligning it with the interests of the great powers. In doing so, it may help shift perceptions of Central Asia from that of a passive recipient of aid or a geopolitical buffer zone to an active contributor to global development goals. At the same time, the success of the center will depend on sustained engagement, transparent governance, and a commitment to regional ownership over externally imposed agendas. Guterres said at the inauguration event that his visit is not only about signing the host country agreement but also about giving global visibility to 'a very important project.' 'Kazakhstan is a symbol of wisdom, a country that is a peacemaker and builds bridges between peoples,' he stated. 'Kazakhstan has been and remains the voice of reason in a world where, unfortunately, there is less and less room for reason itself.'
