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KAZAKHSTAN
Aktau Nuclear Power Plant
Country Profile SynopsisSize: 1,049,150 square miles (nearly four times the size of Texas)
Electricity Production1: 49.3 billion kWh (1998)
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Kazakhstan's Nuclear Power Program
Kazakhstan's only nuclear power plant is a liquid-metal-cooled fast breeder reactor of the BN?350 design located at Aktau on the Caspian Sea. The plant formerly provided heat to operate a desalination plant and 135 MW of electricity for industrial and public consumption, but is now shut down. In 1999, this accounted for less than one percent of the total amount of electricity generated in the country, but was a major source of electricity for the city of Aktau.
Kazakhstan's Key Nuclear Organizations
- Kazakhstan Atomic Energy Committee - Kazakhstan's nuclear regulatory authority.
- Ministry of Science and Technologies - agency responsible for nuclear power in Kazakhstan.
Aktau Nuclear Power Plant
Plant Manager: Vladimir Karaulov
Utility: Kazakh State Atomic Power Engineering and Industry Corporation
Telephone No.: 7-8-32922-24800
| Unit | Reactor Model |
Net Output |
Initial Start |
Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BN-350 | 135 MWe | 7/1973 | Shut Down* |
Scope and Status of Activities
DOE reactor safety efforts in Kazakhstan are related to the country's only nuclear power plant at Aktau. Most of the energy produced by the Aktau plant's BN-350 reactor was used to operate a desalination plant. An additional 135 MW of electricity was distributed to the Kazakhstan grid.
In March 1999, Kazakhstan decided to shut down and decommission the plant. U.S. technical assistance is directed toward improving safety related to decommissioning work and transferring technology to support development of indigenous capabilities in nuclear safety analysis work.
Accomplishments
Management and Operational Safety
- During 1999, the United States provided support to the Kazakhstan Nuclear Safety Center for performing initial decommissioning activities and obtaining Kazakhstani government agency approvals for the initial planning efforts. Officials of Kazakhstan, the United States, and the IAEA agreed that a formal decommissioning plan will be developed during 2000. Beginning in 2001, assistance will be provided for specific activities to ensure the irreversible shutdown of the plant, such as fuel removal and primary coolant decontamination.
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| Contents | Foreword | Program Overview | Armenia | Bulgaria | Czech Republic | Hungary | Kazakhstan | Lithuania | Russia | Slovakia | Ukraine | Appendix A | Appendix B | Appendix C | Contacts | | |
