Kazatomprom has announced that a plant being bult in Kazakhstan for production of fuel assemblies for Chinese nuclear power plants is expecting its first manufacturing output near the end of 2021, assuming no further delays occur.

Kazatomprom, Kazakhstan’s state-owned uranium company, said in a statement that despite coronavirus-related delays in the final commissioning stages of the new Ulba plant in Ust-Kamenogorsk, work has resumed, with commissioning and required licensing being completed in 2020.

According to the statement, first delivery of finished, certified fuel assemblies to the plant’s Chinese customers is expected to take place in 2022, if plans go ahead as expected in view of the global pandemic.