Rosatom Chief Visits Nuclear Power Plant Site in Uzbekistan

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev has visited the construction site of an integrated nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan’s Jizzakh region, where work is underway on the first small-capacity power unit, the Russian state nuclear corporation said.

Concrete pouring for the foundation slab began on 4 June 2026. Work is continuing on the reactor building’s base, with 25 pieces of equipment deployed at the site. The foundation slab for the reactor building of the first power unit is scheduled for completion by the end of the year, requiring 10,000 cubic metres of concrete.

Likhachev described the start of the work as a fundamental stage in a project important to Uzbekistan’s energy sector and economy, as well as to Russian-Uzbek cooperation. He said the project involves not only building a power plant but also establishing an atomic city and a modern scientific and industrial cluster.

Construction is also underway on a future town for nuclear industry workers in the region. It is designed to accommodate more than 30,000 specialists and their family members. An industrial cluster is planned approximately 25 kilometres from the nuclear power plant site.

The integrated plant will comprise two large-capacity power units rated at 1,000 MW each and two small-capacity units rated at 55 MW each. Once it reaches its designed capacity, the plant is expected to generate 17.2 billion kWh of electricity annually.

The project is being implemented under agreements between Russia and Uzbekistan. In May 2024, the two countries signed documents expanding their intergovernmental cooperation to include construction of a small-capacity nuclear power plant. In September 2025, Rosatom and Uzatom, Uzbekistan’s Agency for Atomic Energy under the Cabinet of Ministers, signed documents to further expand their cooperation. An additional agreement providing for construction of the integrated nuclear power plant was signed in March 2026.

The ceremony marking the start of construction of the first power unit took place on 4 June 2026 in the Farish district of the Jizzakh region. The event was held via a video link between the construction site in Uzbekistan and St Petersburg. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev authorised the construction.

The project will bring together large- and small-capacity power units at a single site, making it Rosatom’s first export project of this type.