In Uzbekistan, the key stage of construction of a small-scale nuclear power plant has begun.

The CEO of Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, and the head of UzAtom, Azim Ahmedkhadzhayev, launched the key phase of works on the construction of a small modular reactor (SMR) NPP in Uzbekistan.

The first stage includes the development of the excavation pit for the SMR power unit with the RITM-200N reactor, being constructed in the Farish District of the Jizzakh Region, Uzbekistan, according to a Russian project. About 1.5 million cubic meters of soil will be excavated for the station, and the depth of the excavation pit will reach 13 m.

In the Jizzakh region, at the site of the future SMR, in the presence of the Vice President — Project Director for NPP construction in the Republic of Uzbekistan at JSC Atomstroyexport Pavel Bezrukov, Director of the State Enterprise “Directorate for Construction of NPPs” Abdzhamil Kalmyratov, and the head of the region Ulugbek Mustafayev, construction equipment carried out the excavation of the first cubic meters of soil.

“Today we are starting a new stage in implementing the project to create nuclear generation in Uzbekistan. As in all our overseas projects, the construction of the SMR provides for a high degree of localization. The works are being carried out by Uzbek subcontracting organizations. Rosatom will build the plant, whose service life will be at least 60 years and will provide all necessary support during its operation. We are waiting for many decades of fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation,” said Rosatom State Corporation’s Director General Alexey Likhachev during the event.

Currently, at the site, work is underway on engineering surveys, design, and the construction-and-installation base. By the end of 2025, the project documentation for the SMR will be developed and submitted to the Uzbek Customer for consideration.

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On May 27, 2024, during the state visit of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to Uzbekistan, in the presence of the leaders of the two countries, a protocol signing was held to amend the intergovernmental agreement on the construction in Uzbekistan of a nuclear power plant. This document expanded the scope of cooperation, which now provides for the construction of NPPs of both large and small capacities according to Russian projects. Specifically, this concerns the construction in the Jizzakh region of Uzbekistan of a small-power NPP.

On May 13, 2025, Rosatom began manufacturing reactor equipment: a billet of specially alloyed steel weighing 205 tons was cast, from which the housing of the future RITM-200N reactor will be formed.

On September 26, 2025, in Moscow, at the site of the international forum “World Nuclear Week,” documents were signed on expanding cooperation between Rosatom State Corporation and the Agency for Atomic Energy under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan (“UzAtom”). The parties confirmed in this document the agreement reached between the leaders of the two countries in early May of this year that two large-capacity blocks based on VVER-1000 Generation 3+ and two blocks with RITM-200N reactors of 55 MW each would be included in the project. The parties also signed the main terms of contracts for the supply of fuel for small- and large-capacity NPPs. The project will become the first in the world to construct on a single site blocks of an NPP of both large and small capacity.

The ceremony held marked the start of practical implementation of the SMR project in Uzbekistan. The parties plan to reach the “first concrete” pour for Block 1 of the SMR in spring 2026.

Russia is one of the world’s leading exporters of technologies in the field of nuclear energy and continues to actively develop international cooperation in NPP construction, including training personnel and transferring advanced know-how.