Lessons learned through the COVID-19 pandemic have enabled Kazatomprom's assets to operate throughout recent events in Kazakhstan. The overall impact of the recent period of unrest on the company's business has been minor, but pandemic-related supply chain challenges remain a concern, it said.

Kazatomprom's offices, production facilities and mines have not been impacted by civil unrest that began in the country on 2 January and are operating normally, the company has said. The company added that it was working to prevent destabilisation of its production sites, but a high risk of supply chain disruptions could result in limited access to key operating materials.

Disruptions in Kazakhstan, where ongoing unrest may add to pre-existing operating risks such as the COVID-19 pandemic, could be a "significant catalyst" for the uranium market, Canadian uranium company Cameco has said. Kazakh uranium producer Kazatomprom has said it will meet all delivery deadlines.

Kazakhstan has begun to investigate the deployment of small reactors with a memorandum of cooperation signed between NuScale and Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants, a branch of the government's Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund.

Kazakh national nuclear company Kazatomprom has signed a framework agreement with Genchi Global to invest in the newly established ANU Energy OEIC Limited physical uranium fund, meaning the fund can begin operations. Meanwhile, Kazatomprom has exercised an option to buy back uranium previously sold to Yellow Cake plc.

The official opening of a new fuel assembly plant at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant, in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, was marked today at a ceremony attended by high-level representatives from Samruk-Kazyna JSC, NAC Kazatomprom JSC, UMP JSC, China Atomic Energy Authority, China General Nuclear Power Corporation, Framatome, and the East Kazakhstan regional administration. The plant is a Kazakh-Chinese joint venture and will supply fuel to China General Nuclear subsidiary CGNPC-URC.

Kazatomprom has reduced its expected production figures for 2021 due to delays in exploration and wellfield development activity, citing pandemic-related supply chain issues which have had a material impact on production schedules. The Kazakh uranium producer's announcement comes days after Canadian company Cameco reduced its forecast for fuel services production for the year citing supply chain issues.

Kazatomprom has announced it is to participate in a physical uranium fund, ANU Energy OEIC Limited, established on the Astana International Financial Centre. The fund will hold physical uranium as a long-term investment, with its initial USD50 million of purchases financed by its founders and plans to raise USD500 million for additional uranium purchases in a second development stage.

The Government of Kazakhstan and the Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund will over the next year explore the possibility of developing nuclear energy in Kazakhstan, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in his State of the Nation address on 1 September. The country is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2060 but will need energy for quality growth, he said.

Kazatomprom may buy additional material in the spot market during the second half of this year to keep its inventories within its targeted range and to meet sales commitments for the rest of 2021, CEO Galymzhan Pirmatov said as the company's half-year results were released yesterday. Pirmatov is to step down as CEO with effect from 2 September.

Kazatomprom's 2021 production guidance remains unchanged but with Delta-variant COVID-19 cases rising and some areas of Kazakhstan going back into severe government-mandated restrictions, the uranium company yesterday said it continues to rigorously monitor the COVID-19 situation to ensure its current protocols remain effective.

Kazatomprom plans to maintain 2023 uranium production at a similar level to 2022, which it says would remove up to 5,000 tU from anticipated global primary supply. The Kazakh company also said its sale of a 49% share of Ortalyk LLP to a subsidiary of China General Nuclear Power Corporation will now be completed at the end of July.