December 04, 2008

Kazakhstan and China in uranium barter deal

Interfax China reported that the president of Kazakhstan's state run nuclear power company Kazatomprom has revealed that the company intends to swap some of its shares in a uranium mine in exchange for stakes in Chinese nuclear power projects.

According to China Business News, Mr Mukhtar Dzhakishev president of Kazatomprom said recently that Kazatomprom will give China National Nuclear Corp and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co Ltd a combined 49% stake in a Kazakh uranium mine company in return for stakes in unspecified nuclear fuel processing facilities or nuclear power plants in China. Kazatomprom will retain a controlling 51% stake in the uranium mine.

Mr Lu Gang a senior researcher with the Shanghai Institute for International Studies told Interfax that the move could show that Kazakhstan may intend to develop its own nuclear power industry.

Uranium imports are obviously critical for China as it continues to push forward with its ambitious nuclear power development plans, under which it aims to attain an installed nuclear power capacity of 40,000 MW by 2020. If the country is successful, its annual uranium demand is expected to reach 7,000 tonnes by 2020.

Some researchers have told Interfax that China will still need to source at least some uranium from overseas in order to fuel its nuclear power plants in the future, and that up to 30% of the country's uranium demands will have to be met by imports by 2020.