ALMATY, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Kazakhstan is determining a third site for nuclear power plant construction, and a comprehensive plan for the construction of three nuclear power plants will be ready in the second quarter of 2025, Kazakh Energy Minister Almassadam Satkaliyev said on Wednesday at a briefing.

"This comprehensive document will be drafted in the near future for the full development of the nuclear cluster. Given the advanced state of readiness and the president's instructions to speed up work on this document, I think we will submit it in the second quarter," he said.

The ministry had already started searching for a site for the third plant, and modern technology allows nuclear plants to be built without large water bodies using dry cooling systems, he said.

The state commission has identified two sites as suitable for the plant: the village of Ulken in the Almaty Region and the town of Kurchatov in the Abay Region. Additional sites in Aktau, as well as in East and West Kazakhstan, are also being considered.

In October 2024, Kazakh citizens voted in favor of building a nuclear power plant in a national referendum.

Kazakhstan is now considering high-capacity reactor technologies from four countries: France, China, Russia, and South Korea. The Kazakh Energy Ministry estimates the average cost of a single reactor unit to be around 5 billion U.S. dollars. Enditem

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