Kazakhstan Partners with Russia and China to Build Nuclear Power Plants by 2035
This was reported by Reuters citing the government of Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan is preparing to build its first nuclear power plants, involving the Russian state atomic corporation “Rosatom” and the Chinese national atomic corporation CNNC in the project. This information was confirmed by the government of Kazakhstan, reports Reuters.
In October 2024, a referendum was held in Kazakhstan, where citizens supported the idea of constructing nuclear power plants. Kazakhstan has ambitious plans to reach 2.4 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2035.
In March 2025, the Kazakhstan Atomic Energy Agency was established, which began accepting applications from international nuclear power plant developers. Among the countries that submitted proposals are France, South Korea, China, and Russia.
Rosatom’s application was recognized as “optimal” because the company can secure state funding from the Russian budget to implement projects abroad.
Russia plans to build a two-reactor nuclear power plant located 400 kilometers from Almaty. This plant will use VVER-1200 reactors, which belong to the third generation. This technology has already been successfully applied both in Russia and abroad.
The Chinese corporation CNNC will also participate in the construction of the nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan.
“China is undoubtedly one of the countries that has all the necessary technologies and the entire industrial base, and our next priority is cooperation with China”
Additionally, China has signed an agreement with Kazakhstan for the direct export of oil and gas, which will help avoid dependence on Russia, through which most of Kazakhstan’s energy resource transit currently passes.