Preliminary construction work for low powered NPP (ASMM – Atomnoi Stantsii Maloi Moshnosti) expected to begin in September, after a protocol was signed by Rosatom and UzAtom Atomic Energy Agency on the entry into force of a construction contract signed in May. The protocol was signed by the director of UzAtom’s NPP construction department, Otabek Amanov, and Atomstroyexport’s director of projects for the construction of NPPs in Central Asia, Pavel Bezrukov.
The May contract, signed during the visit to Uzbekistan of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is for the construction of a 330 MWe NPP comprising on six units with RITM-200N water-cooled reactors based on nuclear powered icebreaker technology. The 55 MWe (190 MWt) reactors have a service life of 60 years. The first unit is scheduled to begin operation in late 2029 with the other units commissioned consecutively.
Rosatom officials, including Atomstroyexport President Andrei Petrov, visited to the site the site in the Jizzarkh region where land surveys and the establishment of a construction camp and other infrastructure facilities will begin in the autumn.
“Our large-scale project for the construction of an ASMM, the implementation of which will provide the region with clean energy, is moving into an active stage,” said Andrei Petrov. “We know our Uzbek partners as effective, talented managers, now we are starting joint activities already at the construction site. I am sure that together we will fulfil all contractual obligations on time and with proper quality.”
This will be Rosatom’s first export order for a SMR. A similar land-based plant is currently being built in Yakutia, with the first unit scheduled for launch in 2027.
In 2017, Uzbekistan signed an agreement with Russia to construct two VVER-1200 pressurised water reactors. Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev told Rossiya-1 TV channel in May that plans for the plant were still being considered.
