From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Thu Jul 10 2003 - 08:56:08 EDT
Kazakhstan to need atomic plant to meet power shortages in 2015
Text of report by Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency
Almaty, 9 July: The construction of an atomic power plant in Kazakhstan
should, above all, be linked to the growth of power shortages in the
country, the head of the Kazatomprom [Kazakh atomic industry] national
atomic company, Mukhtar Dzhakishev, believes.
It was reported that Kazakhstan planned to build an atomic power plant
at Lake Balkhash (in central Karaganda Region) within the next 15 years.
"The construction of an atomic power plant at Lake Balkhash should be
considered as an energy project, because an atomic power plant is, above
all, a source of power," he told journalists in Almaty today.
Dzhakishev stressed that yet before starting to design a source of
power, the country should define power shortages it is going to face and
on which years their maximum will fall. And proceeding from this, he
noted, the issue of its construction has to be solved. "The economy
should show" what it will be - a coal or atomic plant.
At the same time, Dzhakishev underlined that "from the economic point of
view, an atomic power plant is far better than a coal one, and from the
environmental point of view, the atomic plant is unconditionally
better".
He noted that "if a coal plant is built in that area of Balkhash, then
we shall just kill the lake". "Emissions produced by a coal plant are
not comparable with those of an atomic plant, which simply does not emit
anything," he explained.
Dzhakishev said that an increase in power shortages was expected in
Kazakhstan approximately in 2014-15 and would be due to the expected
revival of industrial enterprises in the country's south. That is why,
he went on, if one counts down and subtracts five years [supposed to be
spent] on constructing the energy source and a further three years on a
tender, then one will "receive the approximate dates when to do this".
"There is still time and quite a lot of it," he added.
Dzhakishev stressed that "no-one is currently dealing with building the
plant and no-one is designing it". He noted that a construction site was
being currently prepared, but it could be used either for an atomic or
coal power plant.
He recalled that the site in the settlement of Ulken on the coast of
Balkhash [in southern Almaty Region] was initially designed for an
atomic power plant, but following the Chernobyl tragedy [in 1986] the
project was reconsidered in favour of a coal plant and later was
mothballed completely.
Kazatomprom is Kazakhstan's [only] operator for importing and exporting
uranium. The company is in top 10 of the world's biggest uranium
producers (5 per cent of the world output).
[The Kazakhstan-Today news agency reported at 0904 gmt on the same day
that the company increased its uranium output by 16.3 per cent to 734.4
tonnes in the first quarter of 2003. It also produced 135.2 tonnes of
beryllium products, 39.11 tonnes of tantalum products and 17.7 tonnes of
niobium products. The company's sales totalled 6,747.2m tenge, or 45.8m
dollars, in the first quarter of 2003]
Source: Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty, in Russian 0803 gmt 9
Jul 03
BBC Mon CAU 090703 nb
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