Kazakhstan to supply Swiss nuclear power plants with uranium

Kazakhstan to sell uranium to Axpo Keystone-SDA

Kazakhstan, the world's leading producer of uranium, is for the first time to supply Swiss energy company Axpo, which has extended the lifespan of its nuclear power plants.

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Kazatomprom, the world’s largest uranium mining company, and the Axpo Group announced on Monday that they had signed the “first-ever contract to supply Kazakh natural uranium concentrate for the energy needs of Switzerland’s Beznau and Leibstadt nuclear power plants”, located in the canton of Aargau.

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According to Bruno Zimmermann, Head of Nuclear Fuel at Axpo, this agreement “ensures a stable energy supply for Switzerland and contributes to global decarbonisation efforts” to limit greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global warming.

The contract, which does not mention financial details or delivery volumes, “is of strategic importance to Axpo and (the nuclear power plant) KKL AG as they continue to diversify and secure their fuel supplies”.

In early December, the Axpo Group announced that the Beznau nuclear power plant, which has been in operation since 1969, will remain in service until 2033.

As for the other reactors in operation, the current plan is to keep the Gösgen nuclear power plant in operation for at least 60 years – until at least 2039. As for Leibstadt, it should not be shut down before 2045. No decision has yet been taken on a possible extension.

Renewed nuclear debate

At the time, Axpo CEO Christoph Brand stated that the long-term operation of nuclear power plants until around 2050 was one of the technological options that had sufficient generating capacity, were affordable and, at the same time, CO2-neutral.

In August 2024, the Federal Council rekindled the debate on nuclear power, reversing the popular decision expressed in 2017 to gradually turn its back on the atom and ban the construction of new power plants. Energy Minister Albert Rösti had raised the possibility of building a new power plant on the site of the decommissioned Mühleberg plant.

A former Soviet republic in Central Asia bordering Russia and China, Kazakhstan is by far the world’s leading uranium producer, with over 40% of global output, as well as the third-largest supplier of natural uranium to the European Union.

Despite its immense natural resources, Kazakhstan suffers from an energy deficit and is planning to build a nuclear power plant near Lake Balkhach (south), a project for which China, Russia, France and South Korea are all lining up.

Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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