Uzbekistan will establish an Atomic Energy Agency based on its existing Nuclear Energy Development Agency (Uzatom). The Agency will move from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Energy to the control of the Cabinet of Ministers. The Agency will function as a republican executive body responsible for state policy in the peaceful use of atomic energy, according to Russia’s trade mission in Uzbekistan. In addition, the Republican Fund for Development of Atomic Energy will be transformed into the Fund for Development of the Sphere of Atomic Energy Use, and will receive 5% of the annual profit dividends from the Uzbek Navoiyuran company (responsible for uranium mining and processing).
The President of Uzbekistan also issued a decree on establishing the Committee for Industrial, Radiation & Nuclear Safety under the Cabinet of Ministers. The Committee is being formed from the Inspectorate for Control of Mining Geological & Industrial Safety, which was under the Ministry of Mining Industry & Geology. This inspectorate will now be reorganised into the Inspectorate for Control of Mining Industry and Geology, with a refined focus on geological and mining safety.
It will be responsible for:
- Radiation and nuclear safety at nuclear energy and nuclear technology facilities.
- Industrial safety at hazardous production facilities.
The Committee will operate with a staff of 110 personnel. It will include a Department of Radiation & Nuclear Safety funded by the state budget but will not function as a separate legal entity. Additionally, a Scientific and Technical Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety will be formed as a government agency to support the committee’s functions.
To support the Committee’s operations, an extra-budgetary Fund for Industrial Safety has been established. This will be financed through various sources:
- Revenue from public services provided by the committee in the fields of industrial, radiation, and nuclear safety.
- 40% of the fines collected by the committee from business entities and individuals for safety violations.
- Other sources of income relevant to its mandate.
The Committee, in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Mining & Geology, and the Atomic Energy Agency, has been tasked with developing proposals by 1 September 2025, to potentially increase the department’s staff. These proposals will be based on the progression of nuclear energy development in Uzbekistan and international standards.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan and Russia are discussing the construction of plants based on small nuclear reactors, RIA Novosti reported, citing materials prepared in connection with the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan and Russia are also working to agree on the basic terms of the general contract for the construction of nuclear power plants of Russian design. “An important joint project is the construction of a nuclear power plant of Russian design in the republic,” the document notes.
The document also emphasises that the agreement on the main terms of the contract for a nuclear power plant is currently ongoing, and the issues related to the constructing stations with small nuclear reactors in Uzbekistan are being discussed in parallel.
In April, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Ministry of Industry & Trade Denis Manturov said on the sidelines of the international exhibition, Innoprom – Central Asia that Rosatom and the Uzatom were working on a draft general contract for NPP construction. According to Manturov, a site for the construction of the station has already been chosen – near Tuzkan Lake in Jizzakh region. Engineering surveys at this site have been completed, and its suitability for the construction of a nuclear plant has been confirmed.
