France Eyes Role in Kazakhstan’s Nuclear Build-Out As Paris Meets Astana Officials

EDF’s senior vice president met with Kazakh atomic regulators to explore joining the country’s planned nuclear projects, signaling Western interest in a program largely steered so far by Russian and Chinese firms.

Vakisasai Ramany, a top executive at Électricité de France, held talks this week with leaders of Kazakhstan’s Agency for Atomic Energy about the possibility of EDF becoming part of an international consortium for one or more reactors, the agency said. Officials from Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants, the Samruk-Kazyna subsidiary set to manage future stations, took part in the discussions, and both sides agreed to pursue further technical and scientific cooperation, especially on small- and mid-sized reactor designs.

The first site selected for the program is the village of Ulken in Almaty region’s Zhambyl district, on the edge of Lake Balkhash. Authorities have proposed a 2.4-gigawatt installation there, choosing the location in part because of the lake’s capacity to provide cooling water. On June 14, the agency named Russia’s state nuclear firm as the lead contractor for the inaugural plant; that company has proposed its large pressurized-water units for the project. Chinese state builder CNNC was later tapped to head the team for a second plant, a move Astana has described as part of a broader strategy to work with multiple foreign suppliers.

Kazakh officials have given a rough timetable that would see the initial reactor come online in the mid-2030s, a window that aligns with earlier government estimates of about a decade for construction. Potential alternatives for a follow-up site include Kurchatov in the northeast and Aktau on the Caspian coast, the latter notable for hosting the BN-350 fast reactor decades ago, which both powered the grid and supplied desalinated water.

Before vendor selections, Kazakhstan had evaluated several reactor designs: CNNC’s Hualong One model, Russian VVER-series units including the 1,200-megawatt variant, South Korea’s APR-1400, and EDF’s evolutionary pressurized-water model. The decision to proceed with nuclear power was backed by voters in an Oct. 6, 2024 referendum, when about seven out of every ten ballots supported construction.

Analysts say EDF’s outreach is part of Astana’s effort to avoid overreliance on any single partner and to attract a range of technologies and financing options. “Bringing western companies into the mix gives Kazakhstan more negotiating leverage and technological choice,” an independent energy analyst in Almaty said. Still, experts warn the program faces familiar risks — cost overruns, schedule slips and environmental concerns from communities near Lake Balkhash — and that political dynamics between Moscow, Beijing and European capitals will shape how quickly and cheaply reactors actually get built.