ASTANA, June 30. /TASS/. Construction of the Balkhash nuclear power plant, Kazakhstan's first nuclear power plant (NPP), for which Rosatom was selected as the leader of the construction consortium, will begin next year. The decision by citizens to build the plant was the right one, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.

"Kazakhstan is the world's leading uranium producer and possesses nuclear infrastructure. Therefore, the choice in favor of nuclear generation is absolutely correct. This decision by the people during the historic referendum in 2024 is, in essence, civilizational in nature," he said while speaking at the final joint session of the country's bicameral parliament.

Tokayev added that the construction of the nuclear power plant is "a guarantee of the country's energy sovereignty and a reliable foundation for the energy-intensive digital economy of the future." "Construction of the first nuclear power plant will begin next year," he said.

The decision to select Rosatom to build the country's first NPP was made by the republic's authorities in 2025. During Russian President Vladimir Putin's state visit to Kazakhstan in May, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev told reporters that the state corporation expected to move to the construction phase in 2027. Kazakhstan's Atomic Energy Agency later also stated that it intended to begin construction next year.

The joint session of the bicameral parliament was its last, as a new constitution providing for the establishment of a unicameral Kurultai will come into force in the republic on July 1. Elections to the new body are expected to take place in August.