Nuclear Power in Central Asia: The New “New Thing”?
The Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan are exploring the development of nuclear power.
Last fall, Kazakhstan passed a controversial referendum to build a nuclear power plant. In 2024, both Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan signed memorandums of understanding with Rosatom to construct smaller plants. Despite the region’s ample hydrocarbons and hydroelectric resources, the Central Asian states continue to experience regular power shortages.
How could nuclear power factor into longer-term energy strategies in Central Asia? How does Rosatom view these markets? And how do local and international politics influence these decisions?
On January 28, the Center for the National Interest hosted the eighth in a monthly series of expert discussions organized by the Center’s Central Asia Connectivity Project.
—Elvira Aidarkhanova is a Research Associate at the Center for the National Interest. She has contributed to various research initiatives in international relations and has held communications roles in both Kazakhstan’s private and public sectors, as well as in think tanks in the United States. She holds a Master of Arts in Human Science and an MBA, and she is currently a PhD candidate in International Relations.
—Roger Kangas is the Academic Dean and a Professor of Central Asian Studies at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, a U.S. Department of Defense regional center. Previously Dr. Kangas served as a Professor of Central Asian Studies at the George C. Marshall Center for European Security in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; Deputy Director of the Central Asian Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies; Central Asian Course Coordinator at the Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute; Research Analyst on Central Asian Affairs for the Open Media Research Institute in Prague, Czech Republic; and as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Mississippi.
—Paul J. Saunders is President of the Center for the National Interest and a member of its board of directors. He is also a Senior Advisor at the Energy Innovation Reform Project, where he served as president from 2019 to 2024. Saunders previously served in the Bush Administration from 2003 to 2005 as Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs. His most recent project is an assessment of Russia’s evolving role in the global energy system.
Andrew Kuchins, Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, moderated the discussion.
Image: The Rostov Nuclear Power Plant in Volgodonsk, Russia (Alex Malev, Wikimedia Commons).