Kazakh Nuclear Fallout: The Case of Mukhtar Dzhakishev

Abstract

Coined by the fanatical Evangelical Christian, Captain Arthur Conolly, the "Great Game" was a phrase originally devised to describe the nineteenth-century confrontations and intrigues between Russia and Britain over Central Asia. The term re-entered diplomatic parlance upon the collapse of the USSR when the region found itself propelled to the center of a new power struggle through a combination of its strategic location and the discovery of extensive reserves of oil, gas, and uranium. With 54 nuclear plants currently under construction worldwide and more in the pipeline, demand for uranium has skyrocketed. Kazakhstan is by far the world largest producer of the nuclear fuel, mining 24,575 tonnes in 2016, over half of which was tapped by Kazatomprom. Russia, Japan, China, Canada, and France are all heavily invested, whilst international agreements also exist with India, South Korea, the U.S., and Iran.