The first small modular reactor of a future six-module small scale nuclear plant in Uzbekistan is planned to be launched in five years, the Atomic Energy Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers said.
As reported, the project is planned to be implemented at a previously approved site near Lake Tuzkan in the Farish district of the Jizzakh province.
“The project cost of six RITM-200N small modular reactors with total capacity of 330 MW is confidential information and is not subject to disclosure,” the agency said.
The department added that all six reactors with a capacity of 55 MW each will be located on one site “taking into account the requirements of norms and regulations in the field of atomic energy, in the same way as units of nuclear power plants of various capacities are located.”
The power start-up of the first reactor will take place 60 months (5 years) after the initial work, which should begin this summer.
Each subsequent reactor will be commissioned in six months. The full launch of all six reactors should take place no earlier than 2032.
It is noted that local general industrial equipment, products and components will be used in the project as per the specification in the design documentation.
Considering the long service life of a small nuclear power plant, there is a need to use local raw materials and supplies, the agency added.
The contract for the construction of the nuclear power plant was entered into on May 27 between the Directorate (Construction Management company) of for NPP and the Atomstroyexport company (the engineering division of Rosatom) during the visit of the Russian President Vladimir Putin to Tashkent.
In addition, a protocol was signed on amending the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the construction of a nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan dated September 7, 2018.
Rosatom will be the general contractor for the construction of the plant, and Uzbek companies will also be involved in the construction.
The CEO of Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, said that the commissioning of the plant is planned “stage by stage, module by module” from 2029 to 2033. The small nuclear power plant will have water-cooled RITM-200N SMRs, which were used in nuclear icebreakers.
According to him, the project will be implemented with a large share of localization in Uzbekistan. “Uzbekistan will finance the project, provision of a state (Russian) loan was not on the table,” he said.
