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Kazakhstan wants India to build small n-reactors

Astana, April 16, 2011

Kazakhstan has shown interest in India building small nuclear reactors in the energy-rich Central Asian country and a feasibility study would be done in this regard, sources said Friday.

Kazakhstan and India already have a civil atomic cooperation act. But as visiting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the Kazakh capital, the two leaders would sign another pact to enhance ties in the field, an official told Indian journalists.

The official said that "they are interested in India building reactors of the capacity of 235 MW. We will conduct a feasibility study but this is not being considered actively."

Reacting to reports that Kazakhstan was considering exporting processed uranium to India, the source said it was "welcome for India" as it would solve shipping problems and would mean lesser freight in terms of quantity.

Kazakhstan has been supplying uranium to India after an agreement was signed in January 2009. It has the second largest uranium deposits in the world, over 15 percent - which experts say could last for over hundred years. According to reports, Kazakhstan will produce 19,600 tonnes of uranium this year.

India and Kazakhstan, during the prime minister's tight visit, would further their ties in the hydrocarbon sector too.

The two countries are to sign a pact according to which India's ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) would acquire 25 percent stake in the Satpayev oil block in the Caspian Sea.

The Central Asian nation has 1.82 trillion cubic metres of natural gas reserves and 39.8 billion barrels of oil.

Manmohan Singh's visit - the first by an Indian prime minister since 2002 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Kazakhstan - comes at a significant time.

Manmohan Singh would be the first global leader to meet Nazarbayev who was recently re-elected as president in a controversial snap poll that he won by over 90 percent.

In June, Astana will host many meetings, including the World Islamic Economic Forum, the Organisation of Islamic Conference and the summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Manmohan Singh arrived here Friday after a three-day visit to China where he held bilateral and multilateral interactions with the Brazilian, Chinese, Russian and South African presidents in Sanya.

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