Kazakhstan and Japan signed 24 deals to increase Kazakh uranium exports to Japan, the national atomic energy company said Monday. The documents were signed during a visit by Japanese Trade Minister Akira Amari and officials from several Japanese nuclear and trading companies, KazAtomProm said in a statement. Resource-poor Japan, which generates a substantial amount of its electricity through nuclear power, has sought to secure uranium deals with the ex-Soviet republic amid growing competition for its huge uranium resources _ estimated to be the world's second largest after Australia. KazAtomProm has said that its annual uranium supplies to Japan may reach 4,000 metric tons (4,400 short tons) after 2010 and cover 40 percent of Japanese demand.
