The decree, posted on the website of Kazakhstan’s presidential press service Akorda, said the agency will be established as a state body directly subordinate and accountable to the country's president.

It further said the agency will undertake functions and powers of the Kazakh Energy Ministry in the area of subsoil use, including uranium mining, use of atomic energy, ensuring the population’s safety from radiation, and the Semipalatinsk nuclear safety zone’s creation and operation.

A later presidential decree announced the appointment of Almassadam Satkaliyev as the agency’s head. Prior to his appointment, Satkaliyev served as Kazakhstan’s energy minister from April 2023.

Tokayev initially declared the creation of the agency in an address to a meeting of the National Kurultai, or National Congress, on March 14.

“The issue is not just to meet the country's current energy needs. It is strategically important for us to create a new energy industry that will provide a solid foundation for dynamic economic development for decades to come."

“That is why I believe it is necessary to build not one, but three nuclear power plants and, ultimately, to form a full-fledged nuclear cluster,” he said.

The agency’s establishment comes months after a national referendum in October 2024, in which Kazakh citizens agreed to the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant with around 71% of the vote in favor.

Tokayev, who first proposed the referendum in 2023, defined the referendum as a critical decision for Kazakhstan's future, though critics have voiced concern about the plant's construction.

These concerns stem partly from the legacy of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in northeastern Kazakhstan, used for over 450 tests during the Soviet era before it was closed in 1991.

Yet, the memory of Semipalatinsk's impact remains strong among the population.

AzVision.az

More about: