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FNCA
Forum for Nuclear Cooperation in Asia

COUNTRY REPORT
Republic of Kazakhstan
2020

Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Leading positions in the uranium market
Kazakhstan, represented by NAK JSC“KazAtomProm”, keeps a leading position of
the largest supplier (~19.500 tons) in theworld natural uranium market, being theguarantor of uninterrupted operation ofnuclear power plants all over the world
Uranium Production
Production of natural uranium oxide, uranium
dioxide powder and fuel pellets is continued.
Start-up and adjustment operations arecontinued at FA production for China’s NPP
Geographic Expansion of Product Supplies
Argentina has entered the existing uranium
markets (China, Canada, USA, Russia,France, UK, Sweden and Brazil)

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Nonproliferation and Nuclear Safeguards
Nonproliferation Policy Implementation
 The Law on Civil Liability of Operators
for Nuclear Damage was enacted toimplement the provisions of the Vienna
Convention
 Conversion of two reactors to lowenriched uranium fuel (LEU) anddisposal of highly enriched uranium(HEU) is under way:

IVG.1M Reactor

IGR Reactor

o preparation for the physical start-up ofIVG.1М with LEU fuel core and for the SNF
transportation to RFo Joint Statement of the Ministry of Energy ofRK and the US National Nuclear Security
Administration on the results and plans ofcooperative work for the conversion of theIVG.1M reactor is signedo down-blending of unirradiated, HEU-graphite
fuel from IGR research reactor is completed

 The IAEA International Low Enriched
Uranium Bank continues to operate▲ Cutting of IVG.1M
HEU-Fuel after Reactor
Tests

Last Batch of Fresh HEUFuelPrior to Shipping to UMP forDown-blending ►3

Elimination of Nuclear Testing Consequences
Provision of radiation and nuclear physical protection at
the former STS
 The operations for integrated ecological survey arecontinued – currently, ~88% of the test site territory is
being investigated and the survey will be fullycompleted next year ► Operations to ensure safety of objects containing
RONA are completed
In the course of operations :protective engineering barriers, excluding unauthorized accessto defined objects with RONA, were constructedo security system of all levels was installedo remote monitoring system is operational at a number ofsecured objects
oSecurity and Remote
Monitoring SystemObjects ►Protectiveengineering barriers,excluding access tothe objects withRONA ►4

Nuclear Technologies Promotion
RSE NNC RK ongoing projects:o▲ Melt trap before and after RT11 experiment (CORMIT-2)
Sodiumloop(SAIGA)►oo▲ Tests conduction(EAGLE-3)

At the place of Spent IRS Long-Term Storage
Construction

EAGLE-3 (JAEA, Japan) addressing ways of mitigation
the consequences of severe core melt accidents at fast
reactors
CORMIT-2 (Toshiba, Marubeni, Japan) addressing searchof heat-resistant materials for core trap protectivecoating in conditions of loss-of-coolant severe accident
SAIGA (CEA, France) for studying FA behavior at ASTRID
reactor in conditions of loss–of-flow accident (project isdeveloped and experiment possibility is approved at IGR
reactor)The contract is concluded under BREST-OD-300 (JSCNIKIET, RF) Project for conducting in-pile experiments tostudy behavior of fuel elements with mixed nitride U-Pu
fuel in conditions of fast processes caused powerincrease

RSE INP in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada(GAC) and the US Department of Energy (DOE U.S.)
made a design and constructed a Regional Point for
Spent Closed IRS Long-Term Storage, the operationof which will improve
the radioecological situation in the region andin Kazakhstan as a whole5

THANK YOU FOR YOURATTENTION!

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