The head of Uzatom, Uzbekistan’s atomic energy agency, Azim Akhmedkhadjayev said recently that the first small modular reactor of Uzbekistan’s ongoing nuclear power plant (NPP) project is to be commissioned in 2029, while the first large reactor will come online in 2033. The project itself will be completed in 2034-2035. The NPP will produce up to 17 billion kWh of electricity per year, which, according to Akhmedkhadjayev, will amount to 20 percent of the country’s energy production. Current annual production volume is 80 billion kWh.
Having an NPP is not a new dream for Uzbekistan. The first president of the country, Islam Karimov, also understood the need for a nuclear power plant, but never took concrete steps toward its realization. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, however, did not waste any time. In December 2017, just a year after Mirziyoyev came to power, Tashkent and Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear energy corporation, agreed to build a two-reactor NPP in Uzbekistan.
In 2019, Tashkent adopted a law “On the Use of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes,” outlining a legal framework that includes state ownership rules, safety protocols, and so on. In 2024, Uzatom was established as an authorized body to implement state policy under the Cabinet of Ministers, replacing the Agency for the Development of Atomic Energy that had existed under the Ministry of Energy.
