Kazakhstan prepares for construction of NPP: French company will assist in training local specialists

Assystem company plans to open an office in Kazakhstan to train specialists in the field of nuclear energy. This was announced by the company's vice president, Guilhem Purave, at the international exhibition KazAtomExpo, Kazinform correspondent reports.

The company is helping Kazakhstan choose a contractor for the construction of a nuclear power plant and is now seeking to develop local personnel to implement the project. Purave noted that foreign specialists will be needed at the initial stage, but in the long term, Assystem intends to train Kazakhstani experts so that they can work independently and transfer knowledge to others.

"It is difficult to say how many specialists will work here. It depends on the choice of the state and the choice of the NPP designer. At the beginning, the presence of foreign personnel is mandatory, but our logic is based on opening a local office and developing the competence of local experts. So that in the future they themselves can teach others," he said.

He estimated that a nuclear power plant would take ten years to build and require 20,000 people to maintain. He advised Kazakhstan to study other nations' experiences and communicate openly with the public.

At the exhibition director of the Institute of Nuclear Physics Sayabek Sakhiev emphasized that Kazakhstan has time to train local specialists and there is no need to attract personnel from abroad.