Nuclear power plant will create 1,800 jobs — but where to find the staff and how much it will cost is still unclear

Kazinform sent an official request to the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Atomic Energy and received answers — specific in some places, deliberately vague in others. The main open question: where are the 4,500 already trained nuclear specialists currently working, how much does the personnel program cost, and will Kazakhstan actually operate the plant on its own — or will it again become dependent on a foreign partner.

The Gist Briefly

• During the construction phase of the NPP, 10,000–15,000 people will be needed for construction and installation work, and 2,000–4,000 for commissioning. After launch — 1,800 permanent jobs.
• Over 25 years, Kazakhstani universities have trained about 4,500 nuclear specialists. Another 1,332 people are currently studying. Where the already trained specialists work — the agency's response did not say.
• Practical personnel training is included in the EPC contract — at the contractor's expense. A separate state budget for the personnel program has not been disclosed.
• Training partners: MEPhI, TPU, JINR (Russia), the I2EN institute (France), and the Chinese International Talent Exchange Alliance. A comprehensive personnel training plan for 2027–2031 is still only being developed.
• The general contractor is obliged to create a training center with full-scale simulators. The NPP is designed for 60 years with the possibility of extension up to 100 years.

Two Different Tasks Under One Name

The fundamental conclusion from the Agency's response: training personnel for the construction of the NPP and training staff for its operation are two completely different areas, developing in parallel and not intersecting.

Construction requires civil engineers, fitters, welders, electricians, and automation specialists — competencies generally present in Kazakhstani industry. Operation requires a fundamentally different profile: reactor department operators, nuclear engineers, radiation safety specialists, and spent nuclear fuel management experts. These people need to be trained from scratch, and this is where the most difficult question lies.

4,500 Trained — And Where Are They?

It would seem that 4,500 nuclear specialists over 25 years is a substantial base. But the answer to the obvious question "where are they working now?" is absent from the official response. And this is no accident.

Logic suggests: without an operating industrial-scale nuclear plant, most of these people work in related sectors — energy, metallurgy, research reactors at the NNC and INP. Some have likely gone abroad or are working outside their specialty. This is a normal situation for a country that trained personnel "for the future," but it means the stated figure does not automatically translate into real staffing security for the project.

Money in the EPC Contract — And Nowhere Else

When asked about financing the personnel program, the answer was the most evasive: "Practical personnel training is provided for within the framework of the EPC contract."

In other words, the costs for internships and training of future NPP personnel are borne by the general contractor. A separate state budget for the personnel program has not been disclosed.

This raises an obvious question about the nature of such dependence: if personnel training is financed by the contractor — the one building the plant — how independent will the operating organization be from that same contractor in the future?

Global Standard: Transparency from the Very Beginning

Kazinform's article draws a comparison with the UAE and Turkey — and this comparison does not favor Kazakhstani practice. The national operator of the Barakah NPP in the Emirates publicly disclosed detailed, year-by-year hiring and training plans long before the launch of the first power unit, including the share of UAE nationals in the workforce at different stages. Kazakhstan's response to a similar request is significantly more vague: the Comprehensive Personnel Training Plan for 2027–2031 is still only being developed.

IAEA considers workforce planning a basic requirement for countries new to nuclear energy. This is no coincidence — because it is precisely the shortage or unpreparedness of personnel that turns technological risk into a safety risk.

Author's Conclusion

1,800 permanent jobs are not just an economic argument in favor of the NPP; they are 1,800 people whose competence will determine the safety of the facility for a hundred years. The Atomic Energy Agency states the right goals — to train domestic specialists, create a training center, and develop a comprehensive plan. But specifics — budgets, timelines, milestones — are not yet available. Global experience shows: the earlier the personnel plan becomes public and detailed, the higher the trust in the nuclear project as a whole. For now, Kazakhstan is not yet at this level.