The first reactor of the small nuclear power plant (NPP) to be built in Uzbekistan is expected to be launched in five years, the press service of the Nuclear Energy Agency (Uzatom Agency) under the Cabinet of Ministers told Spot.uz.
As reported earlier, the station is being planned to be built near lake Tuzkan in Farish district of the Jizzakh region, at a site previously approved for placement of large nuclear power station.
The cost of the small NPP, which will have six pressurized water reactors (PWRs) RITM-200N with a total capacity of 330 MW (55 MW each) is a confidential information and is not subject to disclosure, the agency said.
The launch of the first reactor should take place in 60 months (5 years) after the commencement of preliminary works set to begin this summer.
Each subsequent reactor should be commissioned every six months. Thus, full operation of the station should complete not earlier than 2032.
- Gazeta.uz reported that the contract for construction of the station was signed on 27 May with Rosatom, Russia’s nuclear energy agency, during the visit of president of Russia Vladimir Putin to Tashkent.
- The governments of Uzbekistan and Russia additionally signed a protocol to amend the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in construction of a nuclear power station in Uzbekistan, originally signed on 7 September 2018.
- Rosatom has been chosen as general contractor, with Uzbek companies involved in the construction.
- RITM-200N are based on RITM-200 reactors used in Russian nuclear icebreakers. The first SNPP with RITM-200N reactor is curently being constructed in isolated Ust-Kuyga town in Yakutia in the Russian Far East.
- The project is expected to be implemented with a “large share of localization” in Uzbekistan and financing from the Uzbek side, according to official statements.
