Sustainable development

Climate Change

Kazatomprom supports UN Sustainable Development Goal 13 and the Paris Agreement, which call for taking urgent actions to tackle climate change and its impacts. The nuclear industry provides baseload, carbon-free energy that significantly reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when deployed to replace fossil fuel-based forms of energy production. As the world’s leading producer of uranium and a supplier of fuel for nuclear power plants, Kazatomprom makes a major contribution to the development of nuclear energy, thus making a significant, indirect contribution to the fight against climate change.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Kazatomprom uses the in-situ recovery (ISR) mining method at its operations, which is the most environmentally friendly technology for extracting uranium. In addition to a number of safety benefits, the technology allows the Company to maintain a minimal level of GHG emissions. In the course of the Company's mining activities, GHGs are generated from the consumption of fuel (diesel, fuel oil, coal) by boiler houses, drilling operations, as well as waste incineration at some subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures. Other sources to be taken into account include mobile sources and transport vehicles.

The Company regularly monitors GHG emissions, and calculates the volume of direct emissions from Kazatomprom's facilities (Scope 1). The Occupational H&S Department is responsible for monitoring and accounting GHG emissions.

The annual GHG emissions of each subsidiary/affiliate do not exceed the threshold of 20,000 tonnes of CO2-eq as established by the national laws for emissions reporting and participation in the Kazakhstan Emissions Trading System.

The employees of Kazatomprom and its subsidiaries take actions to mitigate climate change and raise the awareness of the population about GHG emissions. To this end, they annually support international initiatives such as Earth Hour and Car-Free Day, and also organise their own local events to place emphasis on the respective areas of concern. They are also engaged in tree planting and landscaping improvements.

Energy Efficiency

ISR mining of uranium is an energy-intensive process; therefore, Kazatomprom strives to improve energy efficiency and reduce the energy intensity of production by introducing more energy-efficient equipment, rational use of natural resources, and the modernisation of production processes. Energy efficiency management is based on energy management systems implemented at all of Kazatomprom's entities that meet the requirements of the ISO 50001:18001 international standard.

To assess the possibility and potential for energy savings, the Company’s entities conduct energy audits every five years. The audit findings are used in the development of the Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency Action Plan for Kazatomprom's mining companies. The Company updates this plan annually, as part of the plan for the implementation of Kazatomprom's Development Strategy 2018-2028.

Alternative Energy

Kazatomprom uses the following alternative energy sources, which save fuel and energy resources, and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions:

• PV plants
• Solar heaters
• Heat pump systems