The Government of Kazakhstan's decision to import uranium to India for that country to meet its civil nuclear energy needs is an ongoing and a live project, said Kazakhstan's Ambassador-Designate to India Bulat Sarsenbayev.
In an exclusive interview given to ANI on the sidelines of an event to mark the 23rd anniversary of "The Day of the First President of Kazakhstan", Ambassador-designate Sarsenbayev, who is to formally present his credentials to President Pranab Mukherjee on December 9, said cooperation and collaboration in key sectors like oil, minerals and natural gas, was an ongoing process.
Accepting the contention that India is short of energy, he said, "Yes, we have contracts. Kazakhstan exports uranium to India. It is a live project."
Kazakhstan has been an important source of uranium for more than 50 years.
According to a study prepared by the World Nuclear Association (WNA), between 2001 to 2013, production rose from 2022 to about 22,550 tonnes U per year, making Kazakhstan the world's leading uranium producer.
Mine development has continued with a view to further increasing annual production by 2018.
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Capacity is around 25,000 tU/yr, but in October 2011 Kazatoprom announced a cap on production of 20,000 tU/yr, which was evidently disregarded.
Of its 17 mine projects, five are wholly owned by Kazatomprom and 12 are joint ventures with foreign equity holders, and some of these are producing under nominal capacity.
In 2013, 9402 tU was attributable to Kazatomprom itself - 16% of world production, putting it slightly ahead of Cameco, Areva and ARMZ-Uranium One.
In 2012, Kazakhstan accounted for 35 percent of global uranium production, garnering USD 1.54 billion in uranium sales for Kazatomprom. China bought more than half of it.
Kazakhstan's uranium mines are mostly located in deserted areas of an already sparsely populated country.
The WNA study further states that in January 2009, Kazatomprom signed an agreement with India's Nuclear Power Corporation (NPCIL) to supply 2100 tonnes of uranium to India, and to undertake a feasibility study on building Indian PHWR reactors in Kazakhstan.
NPCIL said that it represented "a mutual commitment to begin thorough discussions on long-term strategic relationship."
Under this agreement, 300 tonnes of natural uranium has been supplied by Kazatomprom in fiscal 2010-11.
"One of the largest Kazakh companies, a steel production factory, actually belongs to Indian company, it is one of the largest in the world, not only in Kazakhstan," Ambassador-designate Sarsenbayev revealed.
"Now, as far as I know, there is an Indian oil company doing one project in Kazakhstan, there are some technical things, but I hope that they will be solved, this is an exploration project. Already Indian companies have started on this," he added.
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