The United States intends to participate in the upcoming tender for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan and expects the process to be fair. This was announced by Khush Choksy, Senior Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, during his visit to Almaty, as reported by the national portal “Adyrna,” citing InformBURO.kz.
“The U.S. has the best technology for nuclear power plants, and we hope for an open tender that will allow American companies to participate,” the publication quotes Choksy as saying.
According to Bes.media, the Senior Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce arrived with a business delegation that has already held meetings with Kazakh partners and Almaty Mayor Yerbolat Dosaev.
It is noteworthy that a referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant was held in Kazakhstan on October 6. Over 70% of participants supported the idea, while nearly two million people, representing 28.88% of the voters, opposed it.
The nuclear power plant may potentially be built in the village of Ulken, in the Zhambyl district of the Almaty region, although the technology provider has not yet been selected. Previously, Kazakhstan’s government compiled a “short list” of four companies: China’s CNNC, South Korea’s KHNP, Russia’s Rosatom, and France’s EDF.
Last spring, it was reported that Kazakhstan had been negotiating with two American companies – NuScale and GE Hitachi – about the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant. According to Gumar Sergazin, Director of the Department of Nuclear Energy and Industry of the Ministry of Energy, the discussions involved a plant based on small modular reactors.
