Director of the Department of Energy Office: Connie McAninch
The Department of Energy is responsible for implementing the joint U.S. –Kazakhstan Energy Partnership. The Department of Energy-Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources partnership oversees ongoing projects that meet a series of strategic goals – important to the Presidents of our two countries – in the areas of Nuclear Energy and Security, Oil and Gas, Electricity, and Renewable Energy Sources.
In addition to the Partnership, the Department of Energy is responsible for implementing portions of the Nunn-Lugar nonproliferation program (also known as the Cooperative Threat Reduction program) in Kazakhstan, most notably the decommissioning of the Soviet-era BN-350 fast-breeder reactor in Aktau and the return of 75 kgs of highly enriched uranium from the research reactor at the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Almaty to Russia. In partnership with the Customs Committee of Kazakhstan, the Department of Energy is also responsible for implementing the Second Line of Defense program, which equips the Kazakhstani border posts with equipment to detect the illicit trafficking of nuclear and radiological materials.