Kazakhstan is the world’s top producer of uranium but has no nuclear power plant of its own. That could change with Sunday’s vote on the issue.
Kazakhstan voted on Sunday in a referendum on whether to construct the country’s first nuclear power plant to overcome chronic electricity shortages.
The result is to be announced on Monday.
The issue is a controversial one in the former Soviet republic, which was exposed to radiation on a massive scale during nuclear tests conducted by the USSR. The possible involvement of Russia in the project has also been of concern to some.
However, opposition to the project seems to have been repressed by the country’s government, with local private media reporting dozens of arrests of critics in the run-up to Sunday’s referendum.
With possible Russian involvement in the project, this does not sound like good news. But I hope it does get them off of their reliance on fossil fuels and not just transfer that current coal reliance to Russian oil while a nuclear plant never actually gets built.
https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/02/russias-influence-kazakhstan-increasing-despite-war-ukraine
Lol just yesterday I was joking about how liberals would be panicking when Rosatom provides nuclear energy to African countries. Central Asia seems like the antecedent to that. You realize Europe already gets a huge portion of its uranium from Russia? What, peripheral countries in Asia aren’t allowed to get nuclear energy but Europe can?
The reactors do in fact get built https://rosatom.ru/en/press-centre/news/main-construction-phase-for-unit-3-of-el-dabaa-nuclear-power-plant-commences-in-egypt/ Russia doing far more work to develop the world than Western countries, which had a significant head start.
Can you please show where I was panicking?
“Oh no what if the Russians don’t build it!”
Yeah extremely valid and not hysterical concern there man.
You’re going to have to deal with the Russians building more nuclear infrastructure than you get in your neoliberal shithole, in peripheral countries alone, because ROSATOM is just getting bigger.
LoL LiBrULeS pAnIc
Chatham House is literally the go-to place for ways to cope with Russia constantly getting stronger instead of collapsing.