KHNP to collaborate with Kazakhstan on uranium research

Friday, 7 March 2025

The company signed memorandums of understanding with Al-Farabi National University on 3 March, and with the Institute of High Technologies (IHT) on 4 March. IHT is the research arm of Kazatomprom.

The MOUs aim to facilitate technological exchange and joint research between the two countries to identify promising water resources for uranium extraction, KHNP said. Under the agreements, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), Al-Farabi University, and IHT will jointly investigate uranium concentrations and distribution in Kazakhstan’s seawater and groundwater. They will also conduct performance evaluations of uranium adsorbents, a key technology currently under development by KHNP.

_{The signing of the MoU with IHT was on 4 March (Image: KHNP)}

KHNP said it is actively researching efficient uranium extraction from seawater and is developing adsorbents as one of the key methods for this process. If these collaborations confirm the feasibility of utilising Kazakhstan’s water resources for uranium extraction, further technological cooperation between the two countries is expected to expand significantly, it added.

"This agreement will further strengthen technological cooperation between our two nations in the field of seawater uranium resource utilisation," Shin Ho-cheol, director of KHNP's Central Research Institute, said.