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| Ready to supply uranium to India, says Kazakhstan | | | AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, Nov 9: In what would come as a major relief for India, the Kazakhstan government has announced that it is willing to carry out nuclear
commerce with this country, including supplying 'yellow cake' to India.
In an exclusive interview to this paper, Kazakhstan's ambassador to India Kairat Umarov has said that his country, slated to become the largest producer of uranium by 2010, is ready to supply uranium to India and that Kazakhstan also has the potential to take part in construction of atomic power plants.
Kazakhstan is among the four countries (the others being Canada, Mongolia and Niger) India, which faces a shortage of 100,000 tonnes of high-grade uranium, has desperately seeks uranium from.
"On September 4, the first day of NSG meeting, Kazakhstan's Permanent Representative made a speech strongly supporting India's case. This was despite the fact that Kazakhstan suffered 500 nuclear tests conducted on its territory by the USSR in the 20th century. As for the civil nuclear cooperation between our countries, Kazakhstan is prepared to develop such interaction," said Umarov, while congratulating India for the NSG waiver.
Kazakhstan, currently the third largest producer of uranium, supported India's case at the NSG in September but, unlike Australia, has also agreed to supply uranium to India. Umarov said that Kazatomprom, the state owned firm which produces most of the uranium in the country, is ready with the supplies.
"Kazakhstan today is the third biggest uranium producer after Canada and Australia. It is expected that by 2010, Kazakhstan will become the largest producer of uranium with production of 15,400 tonnes annually, which will be equal to 32% of the world's total production. Kazatomprom is ready to make its supplies and has the potential to take part in the construction of atomic power stations," added the ambassador.
The ambassador stated that the modalities for nuclear cooperation would be worked out during the forthcoming visit of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev. |
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