Director of the Nuclear Power Plant Construction Management Company of the Nuclear Energy Development Agency (Uzatom) Otabek Amanov spoke to journalists today 15 about the progress of the Uzbekistan small-scale NPP project and other details of the facility.

The Nuclear Power Plant Construction Management Company and Atomstroyexport (Rosatom's engineering division) signed a contract for the small-scale nuclear power plant (SSPP) project in Uzbekistan in May. The SSPP with a capacity of 330 MW (six reactors with a capacity of 55 MW each) will be built in the Jizzakh province near Lake Tuzkan. Rosatom will act as the general contractor for the construction of the station; Uzbek companies will also be involved in the construction.

Construction phases

According to Otabek Amanov, the UzGASHKLITI (design research institute for engineering surveys in construction, geoinformatics and urban planning cadastre) is currently conducting routine monitoring of the components of the natural environment at the site. This includes aerometeorological, hydrological, hydrogeological and seismological studies.

“Preparatory work is also underway at the site to begin construction and installation work on the shift camp for builders, where 10 thousand workers will be working during the peak of construction. In addition, we have begun work on designing the nuclear power plant itself. The Russian delegation is currently here, and we are reviewing the technical specifications for developing the design documentation for a low-power nuclear power plant. We have also selected institutes to develop a feasibility study for the project,” he said.

While, the technical specifications for the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) have been developed.

By the end of 2024, it is planned to begin construction of a shift camp for builders, as well as construction and installation work on the construction and installation base.

According to the Uzbek legislation of the IAEA, three main documents must be obtained to build a nuclear power plant: permit to place the station, a construction license, and an operating license.

In 2025, it is planned to continue work on developing a feasibility study, a project safety justification report, and other documents, as well as construction and installation work on the shift camp.

"At the end of next year, we plan to get the permit from our regulator to place a nuclear power plant on the site. In addition, we will place [orders for the production of] reactors, turbines, generators and other large-block equipment with a long manufacturing cycle. The production of the reactor itself will take from 36 to 40 months," said Otabek Amanov.

To obtain permit for placement, it is necessary to develop technical documents, conduct an examination and public hearings to assess the impact on the environment.

At the beginning of 2026, it is planned to receive permit to pour the "first concrete" into the foundation slab of the power unit.

The chief of the Management Company pointed out that timely placement of orders for the supply of equipment will allow the launch of the first stage of the small NPP by the end of 2029.

Foreign companies are planned to be hired for the nuclear power plant project.

"The nuclear power plant consists of two large components - a nuclear island and an auxiliary facility. Naturally, we will implement the nuclear island with our general contractor Atomstroyexport (Rosatom). And we want to somehow combine the auxiliary facility so that international companies participate, so that it will be an international project. We are currently working on options,” said Otabek Amanov.

In August, a delegation from Uzatom visited China, where they met with Chinese companies that expressed a desire to participate in the project, that is, to supply turbine equipment, generators and dry cooling towers (a device for cooling NPP equipment without evaporating water).

“We already firmly want to use dry cooling towers so as not to depend on water resources. Hungarian companies are also interested, they have very good developments, solutions for dry cooling towers. Both European companies and Asian companies have expressed a desire to participate in our project,” he said.

The chief of the Management Company noted that the recently set up company - Saneg Atom is not participating in the project and no negotiations are being held with it.

Nuclear plant will be Uzbekistan’s property

Otabek Amanov emphasized that the small-scale nuclear power plant will be owned by Uzbekistan.

“The plant will be fully owned by the Republic of Uzbekistan. The plant will be managed by an operator — a local company, that is, currently the directorate has the powers of an operator. That is, it will be managed by a state operator company that will have the appropriate license for operation,” the head of the directorate said.

The generated electricity, as at other power plants (thermal power plants, solar, wind and coal), will be purchased by the company Uzenergosotish and supplied to consumers through National Electric Grids.