Uzbekistan starts construction of first small modular reactor
Uzbekistan began construction of its first small modular reactor (SMR) with a groundbreaking ceremony and symbolic pouring of first concrete at the Jizzakh region site. The country's Committee for Industrial, Radiation, and Nuclear Safety issued a construction licence on June 4 to the general contractor for the first unit, a Russian-made RITM-200N.
The International Atomic Energy Agency's Director General Rafael Grossi said the project features the first export order for any SMR.
A 2025 supplemental agreement to the contract changed the plant's design to two gigawatt-scale VVER-1000 units and two SMRs, raising proposed capacity to more than 2,100 MWe from the previous 330 MWe. Site preparation has involved excavating about 1.5 million cubic metres of soil to create a pit 13 metres deep.
Under the original schedule, the first unit was set to go critical in late 2029, with subsequent units commissioned one by one. Approximately 15,000 people are expected to be employed at the construction site, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The RITM-200N is a land-based variant of the reactor used in Russian nuclear icebreakers, developed by Rosatom. Uzbekistan has pursued nuclear power as part of a strategy to diversify a generation mix dominated by natural gas and to free up gas for export. The Jizzakh project is the first nuclear plant ever built in the country and now combines large-scale and small modular technology under a single contract framework following the 2025 redesign.
Source: world-nuclear-news.org (opens in a new tab)1 sourcePermalink