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Uzbekistan Takes Next Step on Nuclear Power Plant Journey

Concrete is being poured at a site in Jizzakh region which will host Uzbekistan’s first nuclear power plant.

Uzatom Director Azim Ahmedkhodjayev (right) and Rosatom Director Alexey Likhachev (left) on March 24, 2026.

Construction is underway on Uzbekistan’s first nuclear power plant at a site in Jizzakh region’s Forish district. On March 24, the heads of Uzatom and Rosatom – partnering in the project – signed additional documents and celebrated the start of concrete pouring. 

In a comment to journalists, Uzatom Director Azim Ahmedkhodjayev said, “Today is a significant day for the future of Uzbekistan – we’ve taken a decisive step in implementing the national program to develop modern nuclear energy.”

In May 2024, during a state visit to Uzbekistan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev shook hands on a deal the latter called “vital”: the construction of a nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan. 

Earlier discussions – following a December 2017 nuclear cooperation agreement – had focused on the possible construction of  two VVER-1200 pressurized water reactors, with a 2.5 GW capacity. The plan had been beset by funding questions, even as Russia pushed to speed up the project. 

By 2024, the project had been scaled down to a nuclear power plant consisting of six small modular reactors (SMRs) with a capacity of 55 MW each – or 330 MW total. 

In May 2024,  Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev boasted that construction would start that summer.

Excavation work launched in December 2025. At the time, Uzbek media reported a slightly different configuration: two SMRs, specifically RITM-200N reactors, with a capacity of 55 megawatts each will be built first, followed at some later point by the construction of two VVER-1000 reactors, each generating 1 GW.

In conjunction with the start of concrete pouring this........

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