Europeans to Buy Kazak Uranium
Europeans to Buy Kazak Uranium
A planned uranium deal with European Union members would give Kazakstan another major export market in addition to Russia. Such diversification would reduce the risks associated with a fluctuating market and bring a much-needed injection of high technology to the country's uranium processing industry.
On October 24, the European Commission recommended that the EU Council reach an agreement with Kazakstan on the peaceful use of nuclear energy as soon as possible. The deal would encompass joint projects, the exchange of experts and technologies, and EU investments amounting to 500 million euro over the next ten years.
NBCentralAsia analysts say the arrival of another player in the Kazak nuclear fuel industry is much-needed, as it will spread the risks that come with having a limited number of export markets.
“Since we are not a major player in the uranium market, in the sense that we don’t make the final product, we’d be interested in pursuing a policy of diversification, where we are not dependent on one particular market and its dynamics, but instead have a guaranteed sales market,” said Askar Kasabekov, vice-president of Kazatomprom, the national nuclear agency.
Russia is currently the main customer for Kazak uranium. In mid-October, the first Russian-Kazak uranium enrichment company was launched; a second joint venture company is to mine the fuel at the Budennovskoe deposit, while a third will develop the latest generation of nuclear reactors.
Despite these deals, Russia could yet lose its pole position in the Kazak uranium industry as interest in mining and processing grows among EU members and other countries including Japan. At the moment, the EU imports only buys three per cent of its uranium imports from Kazakstan, but it could emerge as one of the biggest consumers in the near future.
The Japanese, too, are increasingly interested in uranium purchases, with some serious lobbying going on, notably when the then prime minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Kazakstan in August. A joint venture is to start mining at the Mynkuduk deposit as soon as next year.
Professor Magbat Spanov, director of the Kazakstan Institute of Development, says it is good for the country to go into partnership with countries with high-tech extraction and processing capacity. Kazakstan needs this both for its processing industry and also to achieve a significant increase in the amount it can mine.
According to open sources, uranium production in Kazakstan has increased by 400 per cent over the last seven years to reach about 4,000 tons annually. The authorities have ambitious plans to raise production to 15,000 tons by 2010.
Kasabekov said that with the world’s second-largest reserves of uranium, Kazakstan has a lot of incentives to increase output.
“First, the price of uranium is rising – it has seen a fourfold increase in the last three years,” he said. “Secondly, we anticipate substantial construction of nuclear plants worldwide, as the most efficient and environmentally clean way of producing energy that exists today. The future will belongs to nuclear power plants for the next 50 or 60 years.”
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
On October 24, the European Commission recommended that the EU Council reach an agreement with Kazakstan on the peaceful use of nuclear energy as soon as possible. The deal would encompass joint projects, the exchange of experts and technologies, and EU investments amounting to 500 million euro over the next ten years.
NBCentralAsia analysts say the arrival of another player in the Kazak nuclear fuel industry is much-needed, as it will spread the risks that come with having a limited number of export markets.
“Since we are not a major player in the uranium market, in the sense that we don’t make the final product, we’d be interested in pursuing a policy of diversification, where we are not dependent on one particular market and its dynamics, but instead have a guaranteed sales market,” said Askar Kasabekov, vice-president of Kazatomprom, the national nuclear agency.
Russia is currently the main customer for Kazak uranium. In mid-October, the first Russian-Kazak uranium enrichment company was launched; a second joint venture company is to mine the fuel at the Budennovskoe deposit, while a third will develop the latest generation of nuclear reactors.
Despite these deals, Russia could yet lose its pole position in the Kazak uranium industry as interest in mining and processing grows among EU members and other countries including Japan. At the moment, the EU imports only buys three per cent of its uranium imports from Kazakstan, but it could emerge as one of the biggest consumers in the near future.
The Japanese, too, are increasingly interested in uranium purchases, with some serious lobbying going on, notably when the then prime minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Kazakstan in August. A joint venture is to start mining at the Mynkuduk deposit as soon as next year.
Professor Magbat Spanov, director of the Kazakstan Institute of Development, says it is good for the country to go into partnership with countries with high-tech extraction and processing capacity. Kazakstan needs this both for its processing industry and also to achieve a significant increase in the amount it can mine.
According to open sources, uranium production in Kazakstan has increased by 400 per cent over the last seven years to reach about 4,000 tons annually. The authorities have ambitious plans to raise production to 15,000 tons by 2010.
Kasabekov said that with the world’s second-largest reserves of uranium, Kazakstan has a lot of incentives to increase output.
“First, the price of uranium is rising – it has seen a fourfold increase in the last three years,” he said. “Secondly, we anticipate substantial construction of nuclear plants worldwide, as the most efficient and environmentally clean way of producing energy that exists today. The future will belongs to nuclear power plants for the next 50 or 60 years.”
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
