USA and Kazakhstan energy partnership extends cooperation

The Kazakhstan-United States Energy Partnership Commission yesterday signed a joint statement at a meeting in Kazakhstan that was co-chaired by Kazakh energy minister K A Bosumbayev and US energy secretary Ernest Moniz.

The meeting was held as a follow-up to the 11th session of the Special Commission on the Energy Partnership (SCEP), during which discussions were held on nuclear security and nuclear energy, alternative energy and electricity, energy conservation and increasing energy efficiency.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) said: "Notably, within the framework of the SCEP, concrete targets have been reached in cooperation in the field of conversion of Kazakhstan's research reactors and enforcement of physical nuclear security."

It added that, also during the past year, experts from the Kazakh energy ministry and the DOE had held bilateral talks on international carbon sequestration and the use of clean technologies.

The Republic of Kazakhstan was represented at the session by officials from the Kazakh energy and foreign ministries, state-owned uranium producer KazAtomProm, the Kazenergy Association, KazMunaiGas, Samruk-Energy, EXPO-2017, the National Nuclear Centre, and the Nuclear Physics Institute. US delegates were from the DOE, the US embassy in Kazakhstan and the National Nuclear Security Administration.

After the signing ceremony yesterday, the two ministers discussed the 2016 work plan, "which encourages the use of alternative energy sources in Kazakhstan, reduces emissions, and enhances nuclear safety", the DOE said.

KazAtomProm and Centrus Energy signed a memorandum of cooperation last October that specifies the development of mutually beneficial relations on competitive supplies of Kazakhstan's uranium to the world market. Bethesda, Maryland-based Centrus Energy supplies enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants in the USA and around the world.

Earlier this week, KazAtomProm and ConverDyn signed an agreement whereby the world's largest uranium producer and the "leading provider" of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) conversion services will jointly and immediately offer uranium in the form of natural UF6 to global utilities. UF6 is the natural uranium feedstock for the enrichment step in the nuclear fuel cycle.

In 2014, Kazakhstan became the leading supplier of uranium to US nuclear power plants, overtaking Australia, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Of the uranium purchased by US reactor owners and operators, 23% was of Kazakh origin, while 20% came from Australia and 18% from Canada.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News