The Uzatom Agency is preparing for the mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to reviewe safety at the NPP construction site, the agency reported.
The five-day workshop on preparation for the SEED mission: Site and External Events Design Review Service of the Program for Deploying a New Nuclear Device in Uzbekistan began on June 20.
During the workshop, it is planned to hold events on such topics as the development of a nuclear energy project and enhancing its potential in the country, the security of territories where nuclear technologies are located, the technical aspects of the placement of nuclear technologies at facilities and its assessment, as well as indications for collective practice and preparation for the analysis of safety reports.
In addition, it is planned to hold a presentation of international regulations and rules on the deployment of nuclear technologies and their features for responsible authorized persons of institutions.
The event will be attended by foreign experts with extensive experience in this field, responsible persons of local ministries and departments involved in the selection of sites for the construction of nuclear power plants in Uzbekistan, Uzatom added.
In June 2021, the IAEA’s INIR (Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review) mission worked in Uzbekistan. At that time, the mission considered that the country's authorities had made significant progress in the project to build the first nuclear power plant in the country.
The mission also confirmed that Uzbekistan's nuclear power program enjoyed strong government support and demonstrates a clear commitment to reliability, safety and non-proliferation.
At the same time, the IAEA noted that Uzbekistan needed to join international legal instruments to which it is not yet a party: the Convention on Nuclear Safety, the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident, the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage and its Protocol .
Uzbekistan Nuclear Plant Project
According to the Uzbekistan Nuclear Energy Development Concept for 2019-2029, the project is scheduled to start in 2022.
The project provides for the construction of a nuclear power plant with pressurized water reactors of the VVER-1200 type with a capacity of 1.2 GWh in the Jizzakh province. The Russian state corporation Rosatom will participate in its construction.
Director General of Uzatom Zhurabek Mirzamakhmudov said that it was planned to commission the first power unit of the plant in December 2028, in June 2030 - the second unit.
In October 2019, Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev said that the corporation planned to sign the main contract for the nuclear plant project in Uzbekistan by the end of 2019. However, there have been no reports of signing the document so far.
During the one-day visit of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Russia on November 19, 2021, 18 documents were signed between the countries, including agreements between governments on cooperation in the field of nuclear and biological safety.
In early November last year, Abdulaziz Kamilov, then head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the issue of building a nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan is now being reviewed both from the point of view of the economic feasibility of the project, taking into account numerous proposals for investments in green energy, and from the point of view of its transparency. “We will study the opinion of the public not only in Uzbekistan, but also in neighboring states,” he said.
In June, Deputy Energy Minister Sherzod Khodjaev said that Uzbekistan was discussing with Rosatom to reduce the cost of building a nuclear power plant. If the price of electricity produced at the plant is not competitive with other sources, then the conclusion about whether to go ahead with the project is "obvious," he said.
