FNCA
Forum for Nuclear Cooperation in Asia

COUNTRY REPORT
Republic of Kazakhstan
2019

Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Leading position at uranium market
Kazakhstan keeps the leading position (40%) at
the world market of natural uranium production
Uranium products output
Enterprises of Kazakhstan produce naturaluranium oxide concentrate, uranium dioxide
powder and fuel pellets. A new facility for fuelassemblies’ production (200 tons FA/year) is
under construction
Geographic expansion of sales
Current market of uranium products fromKazakhstan includes the China, Canada, USA,Russia and France and tends to extension(Great Britain, Sweden and Brazil is added in2018–2019)2

Nonproliferation and Safeguards
Kazakhstan implementationof nonproliferation policy
 Joint statement of ME RK and US Departmentof Energy’s National Nuclear Security
Administration on cooperation to reduce risksof global threats and nuclear security.
The statement contains a joint work plan fortreatment of high-enriched fuel of research
reactors in the Republic of Kazakhstan
 In 2019–2020 Kazakhstan is chaired
international association “Nuclear Suppliers’Group”

Joint statement of ME RK and US DoESeptember 17, 2019 at 63rd session of IAEA GC

Ambassador Kairat Sarybay,
Chair of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, 2019–20203

Nonproliferation and Safeguards
 Decision was made concerning delivery ofradioactive rare gas monitoring station –network element of Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty Organization (CTBTO), to Kazakhstan
 In October, first batch of low-enricheduranium was delivered to the IAEA bank.
Suppliers – “NAK Kazatomprom” JSC andOrano Cycle, FranceOctober 16, 2019 first uranium batch delivered to the IAEA
LEU bank in Kazakhstan“Sauna II” radioactive rare gas monitoring station

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Conversion of Highly Enriched Fuel36%
19.75%WWR-K Reactor
WWR-K Reactor conversion is completed

IVG.1M Reactor

IGR Reactor

Conversion of uranium-235 fuel with enrichment of 90% to 19.75%
in cooperation with American and Russian partners
IVG.1M Reactor:• Completed in-pile resource tests of two experimental assemblies
with new LEU fuel
IGR Reactor:• Conceptual technology of dry mixing is considering for disposing
irradiated HEU-fuel• Down blending non-irradiated HEU-fuel is scheduled for thenearest future at “Ulba Metallurgical Plant” JSC (a technology isdeveloped, fuel is delivered to the plant)

Testing non-irradiated HEU-fuel at “UMP” JSC

5Elimination of Nuclear Weapon Testing Consequences
Survey of radiation situation at Semipalatinsk Test Site
To provide radiation safety and nuclear security, a comprehensive radioecological survey is being carried out at
the former Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS).
By now, surveyed area is ~12 500 km2 (about 70%). ►137Cs

241Am

Comprehensive Action Plan on bringing STS area to a safe
condition and developing its infrastructure
Current annual plan provides for decision on matters ofSTS lands’ return to economic use:
• preparation to survey of special radiation risks zones
on STS and adjacent areas• development of Act concept concerning the STS and its
agreement with interested governmental authorities
Operations to bring the sites, containing wastes of nuclear
activity, to a safe condition
The operations are planned to be completed in 2020 andincluded construction of physical barriers and physicalsecurity systems►

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Promoting Nuclear and Fusion Technologies
 Project is being implemented on construction offacility for neutron radiography and tomography for
researches in material science, nuclear technologies,paleontology, geophysics, cultural heritage objects,
etc. Start-up is planned for this December On November 20, 2019 the physical start-up ofKazakhstan fusion material-testing KTM tokamak
was conducted Under an agreement on joint use of KTM
Tokamak, Kazakhstan scientists performresearches with organizations of RussianFederation

 At production and technological complex of Center ofnuclear medicine and biophysics, launched in 2018,
operations are ongoing to introduce production
technology of new diagnostic and treatment
radiopharmaceuticals: “Fluorine(18F) choline”,“Fluorine(18F) DOPA”, “Samarium (153Sm) – EDTMF”;
a method was developed to produce RPH “Lutecium(177Lu)- elagolix for diagnostics and treatment ofbreast cancer
 At accelerator ILU-10, a technique was developed forradiation sterilization of variety of medical products,and technology of radiation material processing isplanned to be introduced for industry and agriculture7

Nuclear HRD Support
Personnel is actively trained at the universities as: Domestic universities – Al-Farabi KazNU, K. Satpaev KazNTU, L.N. Gumilev ENU, etc., which graduate
young nuclear specialists every year in cooperation with scientific research organizations; Traditional cooperation with Russia’s universities – TPU, MEPhI, MPTI, N.E. Bauman MSTU, MISA,SPbSTI, UPhU and others, providing training for specialists in radiochemistry, uranium geology,nuclear medicine, etc.;
 “Bolashak” Program – state scholarship program on personnel and specialists training in top-priority
economic sectors. The program includes academic education (Master’s and PhD program), andscientific traineeship at leading companies and universities of the world. In 2014, at VIII International
conference Going Global in Miami (USA), the program was acknowledged the best scholarshipprogram in the world among 11 similar ones;
 Extension of cooperation and geography in training and traineeship– thus, in 2018 an Agreement wassigned between the Government of RK and European nuclear research organization (CERN) aimed atcreating a base for long-term participation of scientists, engineers, students and technical specialists
from Kazakhstan in research and development projects of CERN; Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Japan on personnel training in nuclear and radiation
technologies under programs funded by MEXT – scientific traineeship upon the nuclear researchers’
exchange program (NREP), JAEA courses for nuclear industry specialists in “Reactor Engineering”,“Environmental Monitoring”, “Nuclear Emergency preparedness and response”, etc., hundreds ofemployees were trained at the courses in Japan and Kazakhstan.

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THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION!

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