Russia's Rosatom to explore construction of high-capacity nuclear plant in Uzbekistan

Rosatom to Assess Feasibility of Large Nuclear Plant in Uzbekistan

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) -Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom signed an agreement on Friday with Uzbekistan's atomic energy agency to study the feasibility of building a large-capacity nuclear power plant in the Central Asian country.

Rosatom, which signed the agreement with the Uzbek government at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, already has plans to construct smaller nuclear units in Uzbekistan.

The Russian energy company was also tapped over the weekend by the government of Kazakhstan to lead a consortium to build the first nuclear power plant there.

There are currently no nuclear power plants in any of the five ex-Soviet Central Asian republics, although Uzbekistan and its neighbour Kazakhstan, both uranium producers, have long said their growing economies need them. 

The Uzbekistan plant will employ two Russian-designed VVER-1000 reactors, with the possibility to scale up to four.

Last May, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev agreed on a deal for Rosatom to construct smaller-capacity plants with a capacity of 55 megawatts each in Uzbekistan.

On Friday, Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev said Rosatom was discussing building two low-power and two high-power nuclear units in Uzbekistan.

"The small modular nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan is the first export product of modern small power plants on the planet," Likhachev told reporters in St. Petersburg. He said the plants would help Uzbekistan respond to its growing electricity needs.

He also told journalists the firm had approved a preliminary roadmap with Kazakhstan for two units there using Russian-made VVER-1200 reactors.

(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova in Moscow and Gleb Bryanski in St. Petersburg, Writing by Lucy Papachristou in London; Editing by Rod Nickel)