Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Canada and Kazakhstan signed a cooperation agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy on November 13 in Astana.

The agreement was signed by Kazakh Industry and New Technologies Minister Asset Issekeshev and Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird.

The document is designed to contribute to the inflow of technologies and additional investments in this sector.

In particular, the agreement opens the door for the commencement of refining and further conversion of uranium ore for the production of fuel for nuclear power plants at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant.

"This is the project for the conversion of uranium, that's to say, obtaining natural uranium which we produce here jointly with the Canadian company, converting it to a higher form necessary for production of fuel for nuclear plants," head of Kazatomprom Vladimir Shkolnik said after the signing ceremony.

According to Shkolnik, Kazakhstan will construct a new conversion plant.

"The latest technologies provided by the Canadian Cameco company will be used in the new enterprise. A governmental agreement on the transfer of technologies is necessary for this," Shkolnik said.

He went on to say that today, Kazakhstan has facilities sufficient for the enrichment of 6,000 tons of natural uranium. Thus, a full technological chain is created for turning the Kazakh natural uranium into a form of nuclear fuel that is used in nuclear plants.

"Such production is another step for creation of a full cycle of production of nuclear fuel. We prepare a production that will allow providing some 40 nuclear plants with fuel," Shkolnik said.

According to Shkolnik, the volume of investments in this production will amount to $200 million. Cameco and Kazatomprom invest in a 50-50 volume.

Kazakhstan holds the second largest uranium reserves in the world.

Kazatomprom said earlier that around 5,590 tons of uranium was produced in Kazakhstan in the second quarter of 2013, which is about 9 percent over the same period in 2012.

In 2009 Kazakhstan initiated the placement of an international nuclear fuel bank in its territory under the auspices of the IAEA. The bank envisages the storage of low-enriched uranium for the production of fuel elements for the nuclear power plant in a gaseous form that does not pose any radiation threat. Any country seeking to develop nuclear energy will be able to apply to Kazakhstan with a request for fuel for its own nuclear power program.

Kazatomprom National Atomic Company is the Kazakh national operator for the import and export of uranium and its compounds, rare metals, nuclear fuel for power plants, special equipment, technologies and dual-use materials.

As part of his first official visit to Kazakhstan, the Canadian Foreign Minister was received by his Kazakh counterpart Erlan Idrisov.

This is the first official visit of the Canadian Foreign Minister to Kazakhstan since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1992.

During the meeting the sides mulled a wide range of issues of bilateral political, trade and economic cooperation.

One of the important topics of the talks was investment partnership. The parties agreed to deepen cooperation in the future in this sphere.

The foreign ministers of the two countries also discussed the issues of cooperation in the sphere of agriculture and agro-industrial complex as well as in the sphere of non-proliferation of nuclear weapon and education.

Facilitation of visa regime for Kazakh citizens also was among the discussed issues.

Over the past five years, the trade turnover between the two countries has increased four-fold to reach $3 billion.

Currently about 100 joint ventures with authorized capital of over $60 million are registered in Kazakhstan.

The volume of direct investments from Canada into Kazakhstan's economy since 1993 has exceeded $6 billion.

In 2012, Canada entered the list of leading foreign investors in Kazakhstan's economy by investing some $743 million during the reported period. The major inflow of Canadian investments is directed to Kazakhstan's oil and gas sector and uranium industries.