Aktau
Aktau ( Kazakh Ақтау / Aqtaw - White Mountain; Russian Актау / Aktau; 1964-1991 Шевченко / Shevchenko ) is a port city in Kazakhstan. The population of Aktau in 2009 was about 182 799.
- 5.1 airport
- 5.2 Highways
Location
Aktau is located in the area Mangghystau ( Маңғыстау облысы / Mangghystau oblysy ) on the large peninsula Mangyshlak in western Kazakhstan on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. The climate here is continental character with relatively cold winters and hot summers. The annual rainfall is only about 150 mm.
History
The town was given its importance in the nuclear industry as a " closed city " end of the 50s. 1964 to 1991 the city was named Shevchenko (named after the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko of the 19th century, who lived in nearby Nowopetrowskoje, today Fort Shevchenko, in exile ).
The extension of the exploration for uranium ore, oil and other raw materials in Western Kazakhstan and the construction of a large metallurgical industrial complex in the region Shevchenko led to the beginning of the 60s of last century to a strong increase in population through immigration in an otherwise very thin due to the climatic conditions populated area.
1973 went to Shevchenko also the first world working on an industrial scale fast breeder reactor in operation. The nuclear power plant Aktau served the production of plutonium. The energy generated was used mainly for desalination of sea water.
The privileged position of the city meant that the urban concept and its implementation as a whole and in detail at an early stage objects national and international interest and recognition were high. The body responsible for Shevchenko architects and planners collective won the 1975 'Sir Patrick Abercrombie " Prize of the International Union of Architects (UIA ) and in 1977 the State Prize of the Soviet Union.
Economy and infrastructure
Petroleum
After setting the uranium mining and processing as well as the shutdown of the nuclear power plant in February 2001 ( with financial support from the United States of approximately U.S. $ 3.8 million ), the oil industry has become the economic backbone of the city and the region. For the export of petroleum and the port plays an increasingly important role. In Aktau is headquartered Mangghystaumunaigas with one of the largest oil companies in Kazakhstan. A consortium of Kazmunaigaz ( 51%), ConocoPhillips and Mubadala Development Company (both 24.5%), plan first exploratory drilling about 30 kilometers south- west of Aktau in 2010. The project is called "N - block " (where should stand for Nursultan N ) and expected to begin in 2016 with oil production.
Port
Built in 1963 Aqtauer port on the Caspian Sea serves both business as well as the passenger. Among other things, there are ferry connections to Olia (Russia), Baku ( Azerbaijan) and Nowshar in Iran. In April 2005, the authorities of plans could know, which provide up to 2009 investments of up to 150 million U.S. dollars in the development of the port, including in additional loading capacities for oil tankers. From the port of Aktau and Kazakh grain shipments are shipped as to Azerbaijan by the merchant fleet of the state enterprise Kazmortransflot. In November 2006, Kazakhstan Serik Akhmetov Minister of Transport also announced the launch of a train ferry between Aktau and Makhachkala in the Russian Republic of Dagestan.
Nuclear power station
In December 2007, was presented at a press conference in the Moscow Kremlin Russian President Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the possibility of building a nuclear power plant in Aktau. The building would be one of the " third generation " and on the technology as it would be known based on Russian submarines. As the executive company Rosatom ( Federal Agency for Atomic Energy of Russia) was called. Timur Shantikin, head of the Committee for Atomic Energy of the Ministry of Industry of Kazakhstan, the press then announced in May 2010: "The first Kazakh nuclear power plant to be built by 2020 in Aktau in the southwestern part of the country [ sic]. " At the site Aktau was 1973-1999 already a nuclear power plant to produce electricity and desalination in operation. The former nuclear power plant was the type BN -350, ie a sodium cooled fast breeder reactor.
National Security and Defense
Aktau is home base for large parts of the Kazakh Navy. Since 2001, this is constantly being expanded and expanded, assuming in 2010 of about 5000 naval personnel. The Marine equipment is specified for Kazakhstan with 10 combat aircraft, two smaller Coast Guard ships, three Mi-8 helicopters and six Mi-2; most of this equipment is based in Aktau.
Traffic
Airport
In 26 kilometers away is the Aktau airport. Regionally, the city is connected daily with the Kazakh capital, Astana, Atyrau and Almaty by Air Astana. By airline SCAT cities Aktobe, Oral, Kyzylorda and Shymkent are served in Kazakhstan. International Aktau with the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, with the Georgian capital Tbilisi, the Armenian capital Yerevan, with the Ukrainian capital Kiev, the Russian capital of Moscow, as well as Istanbul, Astrakhan, Makhachkala, Mineralnye Vody and Krasnodar is connected.
Highways
Aktau is served by the A33 to the Kazakh road network. The A35 begins in the city.
Sports
In Aktau Aktau Kaspij the football club is based. The basketball club BK Kaspij Aktau plays in the Kazakh National League.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Jelena Ilinyh (* 1994), Russian figure skater
- Alexei Kuleshov (* 1987), Kazakh beach volleyball player
- Murat Sujumaghambetow (* 1983), Kazakh football player
Twin Cities
- Georgia Poti