The National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan and U.S. national laboratories discussed joint projects

From 18 to 22 May 2026, representatives from U.S. national laboratories (Idaho National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) visited the National Nuclear Centre of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

During the visit, discussions were held on the progress of collaborative projects in several areas, including construction and installation work on the high-enriched uranium (HEU) fuel dilution and immobilization facility for the IGR reactor, the design of the HEU fuel repackaging facility, construction of a hangar-type storage facility for valuable materials, modernization of a 125-tonne gantry crane and development of technology for oxidizing HEU fuel from the IVG.1M reactor.

The working meetings were devoted to reviewing the current status of the projects, discussing the technical aspects of their implementation and coordinating future activities.

Following the visit, a further action plan and deadlines for work in the identified areas of cooperation were agreed upon.