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Kazakhstan, which has one of the world's largest Uranium reserves, is willing to supply nuclear material to India and interested in a comprehensive energy agreement, a scholar from that country has said. Marat Shaikhutdinov from Kazakhstan, who was here to participate in a conference on 'India-Kazakhstan Engagement: issues and prospects', said his country has no problem in supplying Uranium to India. Kazakhstan is also interested in a comprehensive energy agreement with India, including supply of oil and gas, he added. The conference was organised on the eve of Kazak President Nursultan Nazarbayev's visit to India. Kazakhstan, which will chair the Orgnisation of Islamic Conference in 2011, also wants to actively cooperate with India in fighting terror.

So far, the former Soviet state has cooperated with the US on nuclear issues. But a new report suggests that Kazakhstan might be looking to do business with other, less responsible regimes, too. Washington - Does Kazakhstan want to increase its nuclear commerce - doing deals with other nations that have mixed records when it comes to weapons proliferation? That is a sensitive issue which US intelligence appears to be following closely. Since it gained independence following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan has cooperated with the US on key denuclearization activities. Nuclear weapons stationed on Kazakh territory were returned to Russia and their delivery systems destroyed.

So far, the former Soviet state has cooperated with the US on nuclear issues. But a new report suggests that Kazakhstan might be looking to do business with other, less responsible regimes, too. Washington - Does Kazakhstan want to increase its nuclear commerce - doing deals with other nations that have mixed records when it comes to weapons proliferation? That is a sensitive issue which US intelligence appears to be following closely. Since it gained independence following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan has cooperated with the US on key denuclearization activities. Nuclear weapons stationed on Kazakh territory were returned to Russia and their delivery systems destroyed.

Article Highlights * The Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests at Semipalatinsk in eastern Kazakhstan from 1949 until 1989 without regard for their effect on the local people or environment. * The full impact of radiation exposure was hidden for years by Soviet authorities and has only come out since the test site closed in 1991. * Semipalatinsk is a reminder of the high price paid by the people of Kazakhstan for Soviet nuclear weapons. During the rainy, windy early morning of August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear explosion--code-named "First Lightning"--at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in eastern Kazakhstan. Witnesses remember feeling the ground tremble and seeing the sky turn red--and how that red sky was quickly dominated by a peculiar mushroom-shaped cloud. The Soviet military and scientific personnel conducting the test knew that the rain and wind would make the local population more susceptible to radioactive fallout. But at the time, authorities disregarded the consequences for the sake of military and political goals.

Article Highlights * The Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests at Semipalatinsk in eastern Kazakhstan from 1949 until 1989 without regard for their effect on the local people or environment. * The full impact of radiation exposure was hidden for years by Soviet authorities and has only come out since the test site closed in 1991. * Semipalatinsk is a reminder of the high price paid by the people of Kazakhstan for Soviet nuclear weapons. During the rainy, windy early morning of August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear explosion--code-named "First Lightning"--at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in eastern Kazakhstan. Witnesses remember feeling the ground tremble and seeing the sky turn red--and how that red sky was quickly dominated by a peculiar mushroom-shaped cloud. The Soviet military and scientific personnel conducting the test knew that the rain and wind would make the local population more susceptible to radioactive fallout. But at the time, authorities disregarded the consequences for the sake of military and political goals.

*Kazakhstan aims to be world No.1 uranium exporter in 2009 *Mine to produce 3,000 tonnes uranium by 2014 *Output mostly destined for Japan KHORASAN, Kazakhstan, April 24 (Reuters) - Japan opened a major uranium mine in Kazakhstan on Friday, gaining access to alternative energy supplies from resource-rich Central Asia. Khorasan-1, tucked away in the arid steppes of southern Kazakhstan, is being developed by a group of Japanese firms including Toshiba Corp (6502.T), as well as Kazakh state uranium company Kazatomprom and a unit of Canada's Uranium One (UUU.TO).

"Russia and Kazakhstan are on the brink of signing a number of documents on cooperation in the nuclear sphere, the head of the Russian atomic energy company Rosatom said on Saturday. Sergei Kiriyenko said while he was in Kazakhstan on Thursday, cooperation in the nuclear sphere was discussed between Russia and Kazakhstan. "A wide range of documents are on the deciding stage and the 'last leg' of these documents will be finished in a short period of time," Kirieyenko said at the sidelines of the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg."

In what would come as a major relief for India, the Kazakhstan government has announced that it is willing to carry out nuclear commerce with this country, including supplying 'yellow cake' to India. In an exclusive interview to this paper, Kazakhstan's ambassador to India Kairat Umarov has said that his country, slated to become the largest producer of uranium by 2010, is ready to supply uranium to India and that Kazakhstan also has the potential to take part in construction of atomic power plants. Kazakhstan is among the four countries (the others being Canada, Mongolia and Niger) India, which faces a shortage of 100,000 tonnes of high-grade uranium, has desperately seeks uranium from.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, the international community anxiously watched to see what newly independent Kazakhstan would do with the thousands of nuclear weapons left on its territory. If Kazakhstan had decided to prevent their withdrawal, it would have become the fourth largest nuclear power in the world. Thankfully, the country decided to disarm--a choice it reached due to a combination of international pressure, a desire to integrate into the international community, and assured Western assistance with dismantling its nuclear weapons and facilities. Ultimately, the Soviet weapons were either destroyed or moved to Russia; the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing site in western Kazakhstan was closed; and all intercontinental ballistic missile silos were destroyed.

Kazakhstan's uranium production will hit 13,500 metric tons in 2009, or up 58% from last year, making the ex-Soviet state the world's leading uranium producer, Kazatomprom said on Tuesday. "Consolidated revenue from the sale of Kazatomprom's output in 2009 will exceed last year's level by 53%," the country's nuclear holding company said in a statement. Kazatomprom earlier said it expected to receive a net income of 49 billion tenge ($326.6 million) in 2009. The company is currently developing areas like natural uranium conversion and enrichment, fuel production for reactors, and the creation and operation of small and medium-sized reactors. Kazatomprom is the national operator for the import and export of uranium, rare metals, nuclear fuel for power plants, special equipment and duel-purpose materials. The company is wholly owned by the government of Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan's uranium production will hit 13,500 metric tons in 2009, or up 58% from last year, making the ex-Soviet state the world's leading uranium producer, Kazatomprom said on Tuesday. "Consolidated revenue from the sale of Kazatomprom's output in 2009 will exceed last year's level by 53%," the country's nuclear holding company said in a statement. Kazatomprom earlier said it expected to receive a net income of 49 billion tenge ($326.6 million) in 2009. The company is currently developing areas like natural uranium conversion and enrichment, fuel production for reactors, and the creation and operation of small and medium-sized reactors. Kazatomprom is the national operator for the import and export of uranium, rare metals, nuclear fuel for power plants, special equipment and duel-purpose materials. The company is wholly owned by the government of Kazakhstan.

"China and Kazakhstan agreed on Saturday to build and finance a gas pipeline and deepen atomic energy ties, extending Beijing's influence in a region where it has used its financial might to access natural resources. Chinese President Hu Jintao and Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev presided over the deals between state companies that give Beijing greater access to resources and allow Kazakhstan, Central Asia's biggest economy, to diversify its energy exports. "

Russia is in talks with Kazakhstan, one of the world's largest uranium producers, to set up a nuclear joint venture by merging key assets, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday. "There are prospects, which we actively discuss, that relate to... setting up a civil nuclear energy company," Medvedev told a Russian-Kazakh cooperation forum after meeting a Kazakh leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Kazakhstan, with around one-fifth of world uranium reserves, is on track to become the world's largest producer of the metal this year but has no nuclear power plants or nuclear fuel facilities. Kazakh Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev said discussions on the joint venture were going well but some "complicated issues" are yet to be resolved.

* Deal to supply nuclear material, equipment, technology * Cameco Corp to benefit from agreement * Agreement to ensure peaceful nuclear uses only (Adds quotes, details) OTTAWA, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Canada and Kazakhstan have reached a nuclear cooperation agreement to open up Kazakhstan's civil nuclear market to Canadian uranium and technology suppliers, Trade Minister Stockwell Day said on Thursday. In a statement, the government said that one of the Canadian companies that will benefit from the agreement with the Central Asian country is Cameco Corp (CCO.TO), one of the world's largest uranium producers. Cameco owns 60 percent of a venture that operates the Inkai uranium deposit in Kazakhstan.

Toshiba Corp., Japan's largest supplier of reactors, is in talks to buy nuclear-fuel rod assemblies from Kazakhstan after opening a new uranium mine in the central Asian nation. Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida, speaking in Almaty, the country's financial center, declined to say when an agreement may be signed or how much it may be worth. Kazakhstan's state-owned Kazatomprom, Canadian miner Uranium One Inc., Toshiba and a group of Japanese companies led by Tokyo Electric Power Co. yesterday opened a mine in southern Kazakhstan as the country seeks to supply about a third of Japanese uranium demand by 2014. The partners have invested $490 million in the TOO Kyzylkum joint venture, which aims to produce 3,000 metric tons of uranium from the mine in 2014.

Gerald Sperling's new film, Silent Bombs: All for the Motherland, recounts the effects of decades of nuclear testing on Kazakh villagers near the Soviet nuclear test site at Semipalatinsk. The film is at once very particular to Kazakhstan, the exotic ambience of which is evoked with a sad lyricism, and, in a disturbing way, generic to the nuclear age. It evokes something that is simultaneously strange and familiar. The Soviets tested around 500 nuclear weapons in northeastern Kazakhstan between 1949 and 1989. Until 1963 the tests were all aboveground. Some of these tests left behind massive craters that have become atomic lakes. Even when testing moved underground, tests often vented, according to the filmmakers.

Gerald Sperling's new film, Silent Bombs: All for the Motherland, recounts the effects of decades of nuclear testing on Kazakh villagers near the Soviet nuclear test site at Semipalatinsk. The film is at once very particular to Kazakhstan, the exotic ambience of which is evoked with a sad lyricism, and, in a disturbing way, generic to the nuclear age. It evokes something that is simultaneously strange and familiar. The Soviets tested around 500 nuclear weapons in northeastern Kazakhstan between 1949 and 1989. Until 1963 the tests were all aboveground. Some of these tests left behind massive craters that have become atomic lakes. Even when testing moved underground, tests often vented, according to the filmmakers.

"Grandey, chief executive of Cameco Corp, admits to being an anti-nuclear activist in his youth. His company is now among the leading foreign investors in Kazakhstan's fast-growing uranium sector. Kazakhstan surpassed Canada last year as the world's largest uranium miner. With more than 15 percent of global reserves, the Central Asian state is poised to become the primary supplier of the metal to a new generation of nuclear reactors worldwide. "The uranium potential of Kazakhstan is remarkable," said Gregory Vojack, an Almaty-based attorney at Bracewell & Giuliani LLP who advised state nuclear firm Kazatomprom on a $500 million Eurobond last month. The issue was eight times oversubscribed. Global uranium consumption is forecast by the World Nuclear Association to reach 91,537 tonnes by 2020 and 106,128 tonnes by 2030, increases of 33 percent and 55 percent respectively from the 68,646 tonnes forecast for this year."

Canada's Cameco Corporation and Kazatomprom of Kazakhstan have announced the formation of a new joint-owned company, Ulba Conversion LLP, to move forward with development work on a 12,000 tonne uranium hexafluoride conversion facility in Kazakhstan.

On a snowy day in December 1993, just months after Andy Weber began his diplomatic job at the U.S. Embassy in Almaty, Kazakhstan, he met with a tall, bullet-headed man he knew only as Col. Korbator. "Andy, let's take a walk," the colonel said. As they strolled through a dim apartment courtyard, Korbator handed Weber a piece of paper. Weber unfolded it. On the paper was written:

A three-part exhibit titled "Against Nuclear Arms" opened Monday at the United Nations as testament to the victims of the atomic bombings in Japan and 40 years of nuclear tests carried out in Kazakhstan. The exhibit is being presented by the Japan and Kazakhstan missions as part of ongoing efforts for nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. It will be on display until Sept. 30.

A dozen activists who planned to protest the Kazakh president's proposal to host an international nuclear fuel bank were detained hours before the demonstration was to start on Tuesday, a spokesman for one of their organizations said. Supporters of an international nuclear repository, including the United States, say it would boost global security by dissuading countries from developing their own fuel-production facilities. Iran's development of uranium-enrichment facilities is seen by critics as a precursor to developing nuclear weapons. President Nursultan Nazarbayev this month offered Kazakhstan as the location for the fuel bank. Under the proposal, Kazakhstan would store and supply nuclear fuel to interested countries under the supervision of the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency.

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev has offered to build a nuclear fuel bank on its territory. He made the announcement in a joint press conference with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is visiting Kazakhstan. The idea was first proposed by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2005, and is supported by both the United States and Russia. The US allocated $50m (£33.5m) to the project in 2007.

"Kazakhstan boosted output to become the leading uranium miner last year, delivering almost 28 percent of the world's nuclear fuel and ending Canada's 17-year run as the top producer, Ux Consulting Co. said in a report. Global output rose to 132 million pounds of uranium oxide concentrate, up 16 percent from 2008, with Kazakh production accounting for 80 percent of the increase as new mines started up, the Roswell, Georgia-based company said in a report yesterday. "Canada slipped into second place with 2009 production totalling nearly 26.5 million pounds," or 20 percent of world output, UxC said, adding that Canadian production increased 13 percent during the year. Kazakhstan mined about 36.5 million pounds, according to the report. "