NPCIL likely to ink Uranium agreement with Kazakhstan

Close on the heels of its agreement with a French nuclear major, NPCIL is likely to sign a three-year contract with Kazakhstan's state-owned Kazatomprom to get natural Uranium stock for its pressurised heavy water reactors which will be under IAEA safeguards.

The agreement will be a part of the Indo-Kazakhstan Nuclear Co-operation pact which is expected to be signed on January 23 during the President Nursultan Nazabayev's visit to India, NPCIL sources said, adding negotiations are on.

Under the proposed agreement, at least 120 tonnes of Uranium will be imported from Kazakhsatan by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).

NPCIL had recently signed an agreement with French private major AREVA for 300 tonnes of Uranium. It is also working with a Russian firm to import 2000 tonnes of Uranium so that India has enough stockpile to run all its plants which will be under International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) safeguards.

To enusre uninterrupted fuel for all those reactors under safeguards, NPCIL Chairman and Managing Director S K Jain had recently said the corporation will be investing in Uranium mines in Kazakhstan and Russia.