The nuclear renaissance in Central Asia:
Diversification or deepening dependence?
by Eleftherios Ladas
This article examines the prospects for developing nuclear energy production in Central Asia and its potential to lead to further dependence on Moscow. Despite embracing the market economy since their independence, energy in Central Asian republics has been under state control and thus heavily monopolized. Once forced to export mainly to Russia at below market prices, during the 2010s, China took over as the main recipient of Central Asian energy exports. Reform-oriented leadership in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which took office in 2018 and 2016, respectively, has made strides toward diversifying their energy mixes by adding renewable forms of energy. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, both of which rely on hydropower to meet their needs, have not been able to secure the investments needed to build new plants and therefore are also considering the option of nuclear production. These trends could allow Moscow to control the entire nuclear supply chain by providing much-needed expertise and supporting infrastructure development in the region, provided that it outcompetes China and the West.
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Picture by NAC Kazatomprom JSC under a CC BY-SA 4.0 License.
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