Why Kazakhstan Chose The Almaty Region for Its Second Nuclear Power Plant

In early October, Kazakhstan selected a site for its second nuclear power plant. It will be located near the village of Ulken in the Almaty region, close to the site of the first plant. The decision has raised several questions.

Together with energy experts, Orda.kz looks into the reasoning behind it.

Why The Almaty Region?

The Almaty region plays a key role in Kazakhstan’s energy security. It lies near Almaty — the country’s economic hub — and close to the Turkistan region and Shymkent, both of which continue to expand. The development of Alatau may soon create another large population and business center in the south, further driving electricity demand, which is already in short supply.

Energy expert Yerkebulan Koshmambet explains that southern Kazakhstan urgently needs new energy sources:

Kazakhstan's energy system is divided into three energy zones. These are, roughly speaking, the northern energy zone; below Lake Balkhash, the Almaty, or southern, energy zone; and the western zone, which operates more or less autonomously. The problem is that the southern energy zone has suffered from energy shortages since Soviet times. The northern zone generates 70% of the country's electricity. Therefore, our current task is to supply energy not to the north, but to the south of the country.

During the Soviet era, high-voltage transmission lines connected northern and southern Kazakhstan, ensuring stable power to the south. However, as the grid load grows each year, locating both nuclear power plants in the Almaty region now appears the most practical solution.

While western Kazakhstan could also host a plant — the BN-350 fast-neutron reactor, once operated in Aqtau — the region currently faces water shortages as the Caspian Sea continues to shrink.

Lake Balkhash, by contrast, provides a more reliable option.

The water level in Lake Balkhash has risen by a meter over the past ten years — both environmentalists and water specialists say so. This means there won't be any water problems there, even though the nuclear power plant doesn't consume much,
 says Yerkebulan Koshmambet.

Given the growing energy needs in the south, the choice of the Almaty region as Kazakhstan’s “nuclear heart” seems justified.

Nuclear generation will also replace aging coal-fired plants slated for retirement.

The average age of our combined heat and power plants is almost 65 years. They will need to be gradually dismantled within the next ten years. Four reactors will compensate for this loss. And the Generation III+ plants currently under construction, if properly operated, can generate energy for up to 100 years,
 Yerkebulan Koshmambet says.

Why Two Nuclear Power Plants?

Some have questioned why Kazakhstan plans to build two smaller nuclear plants instead of one large facility. 

According to Telman Shuriyev, a member of the Experts’ Club at the Senate of the Kazakh Parliament, the approach is intentional.

The first nuclear power plant will be built by the Russians. The second will be built by the Chinese. This is because, in general, four-reactor projects — like the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Türkiye —are considered large. And if the investment stalls somewhere, the entire project will falter. Therefore, to mitigate these risks, the two projects will be implemented by contractors from two different countries. The authorities want to test the quality of construction by Rosatom and CNNC.

A single nuclear power plant can have up to seven or eight reactors. The first nuclear power plant is currently designed for two reactors, but with the provision that two more can be added if needed. This means there could be four reactors on a single site; this is all already included in the calculations,
 explained Yerkebulan Koshmambet.

Kazakhstan’s long-term strategy envisions up to four nuclear power plants, each with two reactors, allowing for diversification of suppliers and reduced dependency on any single contractor.

Who Will Be The General Contractor?

The announcement that both nuclear power plants will be located in the Almaty region prompted speculation that authorities might be splitting one large contract into smaller ones, favoring Rosatom.

However, experts dismiss this theory.

Telman Shuriyev references the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant project in Turkey, which is being developed by Rosatom. This large-scale, four-reactor plant recently faced problems: subcontractors protested wage delays.

Rosatom attributed the disruptions to the “actions of unfriendly countries” and said it was seeking solutions to ensure continued financing.

For Kazakhstan, this situation highlights potential risks. While Rosatom faces fewer logistical challenges in Kazakhstan than in Türkiye, sanctions and geopolitical pressures remain a concern.

Awarding both projects to one supplier could therefore be risky.

It makes more sense for Rosatom to initially assign one project to analyze its feasibility and mitigate potential sanctions risks. Russia also faces certain funding challenges — look at the combined heat and power plants that Russia also wanted to build, but due to insufficient funding, these projects will now be implemented by the Chinese,
 said Telman Shuriyev.

This does not exclude future collaboration. It’s possible that Rosatom and China’s CNNC could jointly build the second plant as a consortium. However, Kazakhstan prefers to diversify to avoid dependency and ensure at least one project proceeds even if the other encounters delays.

Both nuclear power plants will take years to complete.

For now, the main challenge is ensuring that Kazakhstan carefully evaluates the risks and distributes responsibility wisely — because in this case, the stakes are far too high for mistakes.

Original Author: Nikita Drobny