Friday, June 08, 2012 -
Russia’s state atomic energy corporation Rosatom said Thursday it is waiting for the green light from Kazakhstan to specify plans on building the country’s first nuclear power station since independence.
“Kazakhstan is to decide what nuclear power station it needs and choose a location for it before the end of 2012,” the ITAR-Tass news agency reported, citing Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko.
Once that is done, Russia’s atomic experts will initiate the project, Kiriyenko told reporters in the Kazakh capital Astana.
"We are waiting for an answer on two questions: the station's power rating capacity and where it's going to be located,” the Russian official said, adding: “That will determine what project we are going to offer.”
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has ordered his officials to speed up feasibility studies for the project, Kiriyenko told the news conference.
In related news, the presidents of both ex-Soviet republics agreed in Astana Thursday to extend their bilateral Friendship Treaty for a further 10 years, the Kyrsiv.kz news agency reported.
The accord was initially signed in 1992, following the breakup of the Soviet Union into separate independent countries.
Nazarbayev and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin also agreed during their talks to speed up bilateral collaboration and integration. The two pledged to focus cooperation in their nuclear and space industries and energy exploration and development.