International Roundtable “Scientific and Technical Support for the Nuclear Industry”

On October 1st, 2024, the International Roundtable “Scientific and Technical Support for the Nuclear Industry” was held at the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NNC RK) involving competent organizations of the nuclear industry of Kazakhstan, China, USA and Japan.      

The key issues of nuclear power development were discussed during the event.

Kazakhstani experts informed about the implemented projects in support of nuclear power safety, international cooperation, nuclear human resources development and prospects.      

China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE), Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) shared their international experience of implementing nuclear projects.   

Today China is the world leader in terms of the nuclear power growth rate and in 2023 has become one of the world top-ranked country by the number of nuclear reactors. The nuclear industry is a key driver in the country’s long-term strategy on reducing carbon dependency and enhancing energy security.

The commissioning of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in China has fostered vigorous development of infrastructure in the regions where they were constructed. New cities with modern infrastructure, developed transport networks and high-quality social services sprang up around the NPPs. This contributed not only to improving the quality of population’s life, but also attracted additional investments to these regions, which accelerated their economic development.

Considering mutual interests, scientific cooperation between Kazakhstan and China on the peaceful use of nuclear power has been growing rapidly in recent years. In particular, cooperation is developing between the NNC RK and the CIAE. The enterprises are widely experienced in nuclear power research and have well-developed and particularly unique experimental base - all of this together provides a very relevant launching pad for the development of successful bilateral scientific and technical cooperation. The cooperation was endorsed through the signing of a Memorandum on the sidelines of the IAEA General Conference session in 2023.

The experience of Japanese experts is also of interest. Japan is committed to a policy of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero, maximizing the use of renewable energy, supporting private sector companies, research institutes and academic community to drive innovations in clean technologies to achieve carbon neutrality. Japan provides great support to countries with developing nuclear power by inviting nuclear experts to Japan for exchanging experiences and technologies in the field of safety through training in cooperation with the IAEA and visiting nuclear power plants.

 This year is 30th anniversary of Kazakhstani-Japanese scientific and technical cooperation in the field of peaceful use of nuclear power. Large unique projects in the field of safety of nuclear power reactor facilities, development and application of high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technology, as well as research in support of the nuclear power development in Kazakhstan were implemented jointly with Japanese experts. These are the COTELS, EAGLE, Fukushima Debris, CORMIT and many other projects that have made a significant contribution to addressing issues of nuclear power safety. Much effort has been put, and continuous to this day to preserve and develop the nuclear and science human resource capacity.

The experts from the Idaho National Laboratory (USA) shared their research experience. Today, the U.S. scientific laboratories implement tremendous tasks to develop new projects of safe nuclear reactors. The INL is on the leading position in this area, which during its entire existence has created 52 nuclear reactors of various types and purposes - this is the facility with the largest number of nuclear reactors in the world. The INL has vast experience in scientific and technical support for nuclear industry. The current cooperation between the NNC RK and the INL is mainly focused on the project for the conversion of research nuclear reactors. Expanding the areas of interaction, which may cover research using the companies’ reactors in the field of safety of promising nuclear reactors, reactor materials science and hydrogen energy technologies is currently being discussed.

Wrapping up the Roundtable discussions, it was noted that the Republic of Kazakhstan has all the necessary potential for the successful development of nuclear energy, and the participants also expressed hope that the people of Kazakhstan will actively partake in the referendum and support the decision to construct a NPP in our country.