Mining and metallurgical complex Publication Date 06-08-2020

Bekmuratov Beksultan Makhanbetkhanovich

Chief Executive Officer for HR and Transformation, Member of the Management Board

JSC National Atomic Company Kazatomprom (NAC Kazatomprom) is the national operator of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the import and export of uranium, rare metals, nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants. Since 2009, Kazakhstan has been the world leader in the production of natural uranium in the world. Our company employs about 20,000 people. NAC Kazatomprom includes a complex of enterprises - from geological exploration, uranium mining, production of nuclear fuel cycle products to science, social security and personnel training. Together with subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures, we are developing 26 sites in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, united in 13 mining assets. We are mining uranium only on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and have the largest uranium reserve base in the industry - 295 thousand tons. We produce about 20% of the world's uranium.

For over 40 years, the subsidiary of NAC Kazatomprom JSC, Ulba Metallurgical Plant JSC, has been providing services for the reconversion and production of fuel pellets from uranium dioxide for light water reactors. NAC Kazatomprom JSC jointly with the Chinese General Nuclear Power Corporation CGNPC is implementing on the basis of Ulba Metallurgical Plant JSC a project for the construction of a plant for the production of fuel assemblies for use at nuclear power plants in the PRC as nuclear fuel. The start of the production of fuel assemblies is expected at the end of 2020. In 2018, Kazatomprom was the first national company of the Republic of Kazakhstan to become an official participant in the global program to promote the concept of "Zero Injury" (Vision Zero), the priority of which is to ensure the safety, health and safety of our employees and contractors. In addition to actively developing uranium mining and nuclear fuel production, we pay great attention to improving the professionalism of our employees. We are currently working on predicting the skills and competencies of the future of the uranium industry specialists. Our specialists must be ready to work in the conditions of rapid globalization, digitalization and constant technological changes. Our work on the implementation of digital solutions allows us to keep pace with the times and today stand on a par with the leading international uranium mining companies in terms of technical and technological equipment. This makes our company attractive to young professionals. We believe that specialists of the future, in addition to knowledge of the main profession, should have a universal skill in the development of production processes. The development of future processes will be carried out through the prism of digitalization, robotization, ecology, green energy, efficient and careful management of production assets. Already today, we have achieved that our specialists have a high level of competence in the nuclear industry on the world stage.

At the same time, new global trends dictate the need to restructure the thinking and develop the skills of workers in manufacturing specialties. According to international research, the main directions of over-professional development have been identified. For example, multiculturalism and multilingualism, cross-industry communication skills, the ability to work with people and customer focus. Also among the areas were the ability to manage projects, work in a mode of high uncertainty and a quick change in the conditions of tasks and the ability to artistic creativity. Separately, it is worth noting professional development in terms of programming and working with artificial intelligence, systems thinking, lean manufacturing skills, environmental thinking, as well as critical thinking, attention management and emotional intelligence. Nuclear energy is a promising area of ​​energy production. It is environmentally friendly and allows you to generate more energy. We hope that an increasing number of young people will strive to build their careers in the extraction and production of nuclear fuel for the economy of the future.