Russia's Rosatom to lead consortium to build first nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan, Kazakh agency says
ASTANA, June 14 (Reuters) - Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has been tapped to lead an international consortium to build the first nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan, the Central Asian country's atomic energy agency said on Saturday.
Other proposals came from the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation, as well as French and South Korean companies.
The Kazakh atomic energy agency, established this March, said it had reviewed various proposals for reactor technologies and assessed them based on nuclear power plant safety, personnel training and other criteria.
The agency "determined that the most optimal and advantageous proposals for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan were those received from the Russian company Rosatom," it said.
"Currently, in accordance with Rosatom's proposals, work has begun on the issue of attracting state export financing from the Russian Federation."
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Kazakhstan in November and discussed boosting energy and industry ties with the country, which exports most of its oil through Russia but is exploring alternatives.
In an article for the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper, Putin wrote that Rosatom - already involved in some projects in Kazakhstan - "is ready for new large-scale projects".
In October, Kazakhstan, a nation of 20 million, voted in favour of constructing its first nuclear power plant. The plan, backed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, faced criticism from some Kazakhs concerned by the involvement of a neighbour that has invaded another, Ukraine.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
2 hours ago
- Metro
Putin calls Trump to say 'happy birthday' but skips over 'Ukraine talk'
Vladimir Putin called Donald Trump to wish him a very 'happy birthday' while fears grow an all-out war is set to erupt in the Middle East. The US President, who turns 79 today, said the Russian dictator called him to wish him many happy returns, and to also offer his advice on escalating tensions between Israel and Iran. At least 78 people have been killed in Iran and another three in Israel as both countries launch ballistic missiles and drones at each other. Posting to Truth Social, Trump said: 'President Putin called this morning to very nicely wish me a Happy Birthday, but to more importantly, talk about Iran, a country he knows very well. 'Much less time was spent talking about Russia/Ukraine, but that will be for next week. 'He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end.' Trump has been congratulating Israel for the 'excellent' attacks, with fears the US and other Western powers will be dragged into the conflict. Celebrating his 79th birthday, Trump organised a military parade which he said is really to celebrate the US army's 250th birthday. 'We're going to celebrate our country for a change,' Trump said from the Oval Office on Tuesday. About 6,000 Army soldiers in uniform will march in the parade while 150 Army vehicles including the Abrams tank and 50 aircraft like the Black Hawk will be deployed. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The celebration will highlight each of the Army's eras: the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Global War on Terror, the modern Army and the future of the Army. Meanwhile, Iran warned the US and the UK we will be 'subject to Iranian forces' if seen to be aiding Israel in repelling any bombardments, state-owned Mehr news agency said. Israel also vowed 'Tehran will burn' after they said their civilians were targeted in the attacks. Defence Minister Israel Katz said: 'If (Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles toward the Israeli home front – Tehran will burn.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Moment one of Putin's warplanes crashes after wing falls off during bombing raid MORE: Iran issues stark threat to UK and US if they help Israel deflect revenge strikes MORE: Florida sheriff warns rioters 'we will kill you' as protests spread across US
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Trump reveals Putin called him to wish a happy birthday as president says he pushed Russian leader to end war with Ukraine
President Donald Trump revealed Saturday afternoon that Russian President Vladimir Putin called him to wish him a 'happy birthday' as the president turns 79. 'President Putin called this morning to very nicely wish me a Happy Birthday, but to more importantly, talk about Iran, a country he knows very well,' the president posted to Truth Social. Israel and Iran have been trading attacks since overnight Thursday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tries to disintegrate Tehran's nuclear program. Putin said Friday that he would gladly mediate a truce between Israel and Iran - despite invading neighboring Ukraine in February of 2022. 'Much less time was spent talking about Russia /Ukraine, but that will be for next week,' Trump continued. 'He is doing the planned prisoner swaps - large numbers of prisoners are being exchanged, immediately, from both sides.' Trump said the call lasted for approximately an hour. 'We talked at length,' Trump said. 'He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end,' the president said.
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Leaders at G7 summit need to challenge Trump without ganging up on him
The G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada is likely to be dominated by efforts to persuade Donald Trump to dilute an America-first strategy, which world leaders fear may put the global economy into recession, and entrench the war in Gaza, Ukraine and Iran – three conflicts Trump once promised to solve. The summit represents the first collective opportunity for western leaders to challenge Trump with the consequences of his unilateralism, but with the world on a knife-edge, the six leaders cannot risk being seen to gang up on him and spark a presidential explosion. The last time Trump attended a G7 summit hosted by Canada, in his first term in 2018, he arrived late, demanded Russia be permitted to attend future gatherings, described former prime minister Justin Trudeau as dishonest and weak, and then from his departed plane tweeted that the US was withdrawing from the communique he had agreed to sign. The current Canadian host, Mark Carney, might not even attempt to agree a joint communique at the summit if he fears it will be a recipe for fruitless rows, but that would be a last resort. Out of deference to Trump, the climate crisis has already been erased from the agenda. The largely informal talks provide a rare change for the leaders to probe Trump about shared values and specifically on a timetable to impose further sanctions on Vladimir Putin, a step he has repeatedly delayed. Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also be present, marking the first time the two men will have met since Russia and Ukraine failed to agree a ceasefire in Istanbul. European leaders will test Trump to see if he will agree to the price cap on Russian oil being lowered from $60 a barrel to $45, a means of undercutting the Russian war budget. The concept of the cap was invented at the G7, and tightening the cap is included in Europe's planned 18th sanctions package. The one area of unity may come in backing a strategy against China, including ensuring secure supply lines on critical minerals. But Trump's erratic handling of the conflict between Israel and Iran is likely to top a crowded agenda. The four European powers – Germany, France, the UK and Italy – will express their support for Israel's right to defend itself, but in private calls to Trump have urged de-escalation. Diplomats had hoped Iran could be persuaded to attend the Oman-mediated talks with the US on Sunday, but the talks – from which Europe had been excluded and which offered the only hope of preventing further missile exchanges – have been cancelled. European leaders will seek an explanation about what persuaded Trump to give Israel a green light to strike Iran before talks involving his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, in Oman, had come to an end. It is not clear that European powers agree with the US negotiating stance that Iran must abandon any right to enrich uranium, a break from the compromise agreed in the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran deeply resents Europe's lead role last week in ensuring Iran was censured by the board of the UN nuclear watchdog for failing to meet its nuclear safeguarding obligations. Iran believes the vote gifted Israel an excuse to launch its assault, so diverting the diplomatic path. Europe for its part said it had no option to press the vote due to the lack of Iranian cooperation with the UN nuclear inspectors. With the diplomatic route currently closed, western leaders at the summit will instead collectively have to assess how close Israel is to permanently destroying Iran's nuclear facilities, and the risk that Iran's reeling leadership will declare that the lesson of the war is that its security can only be protected by rushing to build a nuclear bomb. Demands for the leadership to take the fateful step are being openly voiced by demonstrators and by politicians. Israel is trying to create the conditions for the regime to be overthrown but western diplomats report even internal critics of the regime's brinkmanship over its nuclear programme are rallying to patriotic calls. Writing in Foreign Affairs Richard Nephew, a Iran deputy special envoy in the Biden administration, said: 'Iran's most dangerous uranium enrichment site at Fordow has been attacked, but there is no confirmation that its defenses have been breached or that its couple of thousand of centrifuges have been destroyed. 'There is also no indication that Israel has rendered unusable Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium. If that stockpile is still available, and if Iran's centrifuges are still around, Tehran may be able to reconstitute a nuclear weapons program in just weeks. 'Iran could, for example, ship its hoard of 60 percent enriched uranium to Fordow (or a secret site) for further enrichment, quickly giving it enough uranium to make a bomb.' 'But to actually build a nuclear weapon, Iran needs more than weapons-grade enriched uranium. It also needs processing equipment that can turn the uranium into metal, shape it into weapons components, and then build the weapon itself. Doing all that in the midst of war will be difficult, especially given the world's decades' long effort to deny Iran the necessary gear.'
