UAE | General
Kazakhstan and UAE to cooperate in nuclear energy
The UAE has also fully backed Kazakhstan's efforts in international arena for a nuclear weapons free world
- By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 September 2, 2010
- Image Credit: Abdel-Krim Kallouche/Gulf News
- The UAE has fully backed Kazakhstan’s efforts in international arena for a nuclear weapons free world, says Askar Mussinov.
Abu Dhabi: Kazakhstan and the UAE have started cooperation in nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, Askar Mussinov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan said at a media briefing on Tuesday evening.
The UAE has also fully backed Kazakhstan's efforts in international arena for a nuclear weapons free world, he said.
"The discussions on cooperation in nuclear energy are in initial stage and we expect more progress in future," he said.
Mussinov made a presentation on the steps taken by Kazakhstan both before and after gaining the independence in 1991 to build a world free from the threat of nuclear annihilation.
In 1991, President Nursultan Nazarbayev made the decision to shut down the world's second largest nuclear test site at Semipalatinsk.
After Kazakhstan regained its independence, in 1994, President Nazarbayev went a step further and, in partnership with the United States under the Nunn-Lugar programme and renounced the nuclear weapons in Kazakhstan, leading to decisions by Ukraine and Belarus to renounce such weapons located in those nations as well.
At the time, Kazakhstan had in excess of 1,400 nuclear weapons on its territory, more than France's, Great Britain's and China's nuclear capabilities combined.
Since that time Kazakhstan has fully rid itself of nuclear weapons and their infrastructure.
In partnership with the US and Russia, and working closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Kazakhstan has also been implementing new specific projects to down-blend highly enriched uranium and ensure the safety of nuclear materials and facilities.
In 2009, Kazakhstan and four other Central Asian nations created the first nuclear weapons free zone fully located in the northern hemisphere.
In that same year, President Nazarbayev proposed Kazakhstan as a host country for a planned international nuclear fuel bank, to be set up under the IAEA auspices.
The same year, Kazakhstan has urged the United Nations and has worked with other six nations to proclaim a day devoted to fighting for a nuclear weapons-free world.
The UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution designating August 29, the International Day against Nuclear Tests.
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