Kazakhstan eyes co-operation with European nuclear researchers

NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakh officials have announced their government's intention of co-operating with the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) to develop Kazakh nuclear research, Caspian News reported Tuesday (September 10).

"Great opportunities in nuclear research are opening up for our scientists," Sungat Yesimkhanov, Kazakhstan's vice-minister of energy, told journalists Tuesday at the Senate, according to Inbusiness.kz. "They will soon have access to an international network of the latest developments created in the laboratories of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research."

"Our Kazakh universities ... will be able to participate in various studies conducted by CERN," said Yesimkhanov.

The Majlis, the lower chamber of parliament, already has approved the agreement on co-operation between Kazakhstan and CERN, according to Yesimkhanov. It still requires approval by the Senate and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

CERN is based in Meyrin, Switzerland, and has 23 member states.

Kazakhstan was the world's leading uranium producer in 2018, according to the World Nuclear Association.

The nation has striven to be a leader in peaceful use of nuclear energy. As part of a 1994 agreement, it transferred the Soviet-era nuclear weapons based on its territory to Russia.

It also operates the world's first low enriched uranium (LEU) bank. The facility in Oskemen is meant to keep aspiring nuclear powers from enriching uranium.