Russia on Friday started work to build the first nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan, the world's biggest uranium producer and vast Central Asian state where Moscow, Beijing and Europe are all vying for influence.
Russia has historically been the sole dominant player in the region and is trying to maintain its leading position, while China has invested billions into Kazakhstan under its Belt and Road Initiative.
In a joint statement, Kazakhstan and Russia's nuclear agencies said that they had started "engineering surveys to select the optimal site and prepare project documentation for the construction of a large-capacity nuclear power plant".
"This project is Kazakhstan's strategic choice and a driver of long-term economic growth for the region and the country as a whole," said the head of the Kazakh nuclear agency Almasadam Satkaliev.
According to Kazakh authorities, China is also due to build two additional plants in the resource-rich nation, with further details to be disclosed by the end of the year.
Kazakhstan supplies 43 percent of the world's uranium and is the third-largest supplier of raw uranium to the European Union.
But it struggles to generate enough electricity for domestic consumption and nuclear power is a sensitive topic in the country following Soviet-era nuclear tests that exposed 1.5 million people to radiation.
The first nuclear plant – to be built near the half-abandoned village of Ulken on Lake Balkhash – is set to take several years.
Russia's Rosatom said that the reactor will have a 60-year lifespan, with the possibility of extending it by a further two decades.
France and South Korea also competed for the rights to secure the contract to build the station, but Kazakhstan said it had chosen neighbouring Russia and China, which "objectively had the best bids".
Across the region, Russia also intends to construct a nuclear power station in Uzbekistan and wants to build a small-scale reactor in Kyrgyzstan.
