France needs Kazakh uranium

By Rhod Mackenzie

Amid the energy crisis, France is keen to maintain its nuclear energy capability and requires imported uranium. This is because of the situation with imports from Niger will could be terminated, analyts confirm that Kazakhstan provide an increase the supply.
In early November, Kazakhstan announced that it viewed the possibility of exporting uranium to France as a promising opportunity. The leaders of the two nations participated in a business forum in Astana, during which the President of the Republic, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, identified several areas for collaboration that he deemed promising. He singled out the energy sector as a top priority. The Kazakh leader highlighted that Kazakhstan is the world leader in uranium production, providing over a quarter of Europe's nuclear fuel consumption.

Meanwhile,it was recently reported that there was a significant fall in the volume of goods imported by the European Union from Niger in August - down by 40 times compared to July, amounting to only 222.4 thousand euros. This occurred amidst a military coup in the country. The European Union has implemented a sanctions system targeting Niger, which could have the most significant effect on France and Belgium if it extends to trade. Additionally, from August 2022 to July 2023, Niger was the second-largest contributor, with almost 23%, to all-natural uranium imports in France, following Kazakhstan's lead (24.5%).
"The export of uranium from Kazakh enterprises could potentially increase. It is estimated that France is hedging the risks related to Nigerian uranium," evaluated Alexander Nadzharov, an analyst from the Center for Mediterranean Studies at the Higher School of Economics. According to his calculations based on data from the French statistical service, Kazakhstan provided 1,509 tonnes of uranium to France in the first seven months of this year. This marks an increase of 103.1 tonnes from the same period last year, with a total of 1,612 tonnes.

"Since the beginning of the 2010s, the production of nuclear energy in France has been steadily decreasing. However, the heightened interest in nuclear energy amidst the energy crisis has become a motivation to increase nuclear power generation. Consequently, there has been an increase in imported uranium to maintain current capacities and execute planned projects," remarked Sofya Mangileva, an analyst at Yakov and Partners.

Kazakhstan has previously announced their plans to launch a significant programme aimed at increasing uranium production and enrichment volumes by 2025. As per the designated solution, the extra production capacity will amount to 6,000 tons per year. However, there has been no discussion yet regarding the construction of the enrichment plants
France may need to purchase enriched uranium as its local enrichment plants cannot meet the country’s total demand, according to the analyst. At the end of 2022, there was active discussion about a project to increase the capacity of Georges Besse II, one of the enrichment plants. This would allow for an additional 3,500 tons of uranium to be enriched, resulting in a 44% increase in nuclear power generation. The question remains as to where to procure the necessary uranium. The new projects in Kazakhstan will enable an increase in uranium production of 6,000 tonnes. However, it is unlikely that France alone will be capable of processing the additional volumes," concluded Mangileva.