Kazakhstan opens talks with China on second nuclear plant

Kazakhstan has begun negotiating the parameters and timeline for a second nuclear power plant, at Moyinkum, with China's National Nuclear Corporation, its energy minister said.

Why it matters: A second plant built by a Chinese state corporation would put Kazakhstan's nuclear programme on two foreign tracks at once, with the first plant at Balkhash assigned to a Rosatom-led consortium.

Data as of Prensa Latina report of November 4, 2026, in Spanish, read in full in this run and translated. Single source: no second outlet in this run's queue carried the announcement, so the plant names, the parties and the 2035 date rest on that report alone. Developing item.

Kazakhstan’s energy minister, Yerlan Akkenzhenov, announced the start of talks to build a second nuclear power plant in the country with China’s National Nuclear Corporation, and said Astana is discussing the parameters and timeline for the plant at Moyinkum with the corporation. The first plant, at Balkhash, will be built with the Russian Rosatom consortium, and Akkenzhenov said the projects should be finished by 2035.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had earlier ordered that construction of the Balkhash plant begin next year and that an agreement be signed to accelerate construction of the Moyinkum plant. On Monday, Almasadam Satkaliyev, director of the Atomic Energy Agency, announced plans to create a state strategic uranium reserve to supply fuel to the future plants.

Kazakhstan opens talks with China on second nuclear plant

Sources