Kazakhstan has proposed a long-term partnership with Turkey in the nuclear fuel cycle, offering a contract for uranium mining within Kazakhstan to help meet Turkey’s rapidly growing demand for nuclear energy. The announcement was made by Bauyrzhan Duisebayev, Director General of the Chemical Engineering Design Bureau, during the MINEX Kazakhstan forum.
Duisebayev highlighted that Turkey is emerging as a major nuclear player with four reactors under construction and four more planned. He emphasized that Kazakhstan, given its vast uranium reserves and experience, is a natural partner. He estimated that Turkey’s two existing nuclear plants alone will require 1,800 tonnes of uranium annually, and that future demand could reach 5,000 to 8,000 tonnes per year.
A presentation prepared for Turkish officials outlined Kazakhstan’s proposed role in the entire nuclear fuel cycle — from uranium mining to fuel fabrication. Currently, Kazakhstan mines uranium in collaboration with Russia, where it is converted, enriched, and fabricated into nuclear fuel. Duisebayev suggested Kazakhstan could independently provide conversion services, potentially at facilities like the Ulba Metallurgical Plant or the Stepnogorsk Mining and Chemical Plant.
He noted that Turkish officials had expressed interest in nuclear cooperation during President Erdoğan’s visit to Astana for the SCO summit in July 2024, but no uranium contracts have yet been signed. Duisebayev emphasized that Turkey could become involved in three stages of the nuclear cycle — mining, conversion, and fuel fabrication — and eventually, more, except for enrichment, which still requires time and development.
He also outlined Kazakhstan’s long-term strategy to shift from selling natural uranium to offering higher-value products like uranium tetrafluoride and hexafluoride, enriched uranium, and eventually, only nuclear technologies and energy. This transition is driven by expectations that global uranium demand may decline by 2040 due to the rise of alternative reactors, such as thorium or fast reactors that do not rely on natural uranium.
Duisebayev mentioned that conversion operations could be hosted not only in Stepnogorsk, now part of Rosatom’s structure, but also in Ust-Kamenogorsk or Uralsk. He expressed hope for progress with or without Turkish participation, including potential cooperation with Rosatom.
Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu, is being built by Rosatom under a build-operate-transfer model. It will consist of four VVER-1200 reactors with a total capacity of 4,800 MW. The construction cost is estimated at $24–25 billion, with Russia providing both the fuel and the handling of spent nuclear material.
