Why Kurchatov may be chosen as Kazakhstan's 2nd NPP construction site
On January 28, at the Government’s extended meeting, Minister of Energy Almasadam Satkaliyev said that Kazakhstan’s second nuclear power plant may be built in Kurchatov, Kazinform News Agency reports.
Why Kurchatov?
The city has a number of advantages to locate the nuclear power plant, such as water resources and energy systems, low seismic activity, as well as presence of a research base. According to mayor Bolat Abdraliyev, the city fully meets key criteria for the NPP construction.
“This is both the geographical location of the city and the convenience of the territory. The most important thing is a close proximity of the National Nuclear Center. In 2012, the National Nuclear Center carried out a technical and economic research, following which Kurchatov was recognized a promising area for the NPP construction for a number of factors, such as developed infrastructure, natural and climate conditions, as well as highly-qualified personnel,”
City with “nuclear” history
Kurchatov has a rich history closely linked to nuclear science. Founded in 1947 as a closed research town, it turned into the USSR’s nuclear research centre. Today Kurchatov embodies transition from a military nuclear age to a peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The mayor says city residents positively perceive the idea of the NPP construction: more than half of the citizens back the project, given that many of them are already employed in nuclear sector and are familiar with the security principles in nuclear energy.
Ecology and security
Ecology and security issues remain priority ones for the project. Due to low seismic activity and presence of specialized experience of work with radioactive materials, Kurchatov is considered to be a perfect platform for the NPP construction. The specialists of the National Nuclear Centre say they are ready to ensure safe operation of the future project.
“Nuclear power plants produce minimum volume of radioactive waste – only 50 cubic meters per 1GW capacity within a year. For comparison, coal power plants of the same size produce hundreds of thousands of waste. Due to this, nuclear energy is considered to be one of the most environmentally safe solutions for Kazakhstan,” Erlan Batyrbekov, Director General of the National Nuclear Center, says.
Socio-economic impact
Erlan Batyrbekov highlights that the launch of the new NPP will have a considerable impact on the country’s energy sector. The northeast of Kazakhstan will get a chance to replace outdated coal power plants with an environmentally safe nuclear power, which will both improve the ecological situation and will boost the development of science and technology, and cover the deficit of basic electric power.
Positive changes are expected in the city itself, where almost fourth of the local population (around 12,000 people) is employed in the National Nuclear Center. According to Bolat Abdraliyev, the NPP construction will let create new jobs, raise the city’s investment attractiveness, and ensure further growth of the population. Major enterprises such as Ulba Metallurgical Plant is operating here. Several projects are being implemented in mining and processing sectors. Besides, the city actively invests in the development of infrastructure and attraction of new productions.
Earlier, it was reported that Kazakhstan's second NPP may be built in Kurchatov.
