TASHKENT, March 24. /TASS/. Workers have begun pouring concrete at the construction site of a small nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan, the press service of Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom told TASS.
TASS has compiled the main information on the topic.
Work underway
Concrete works are underway at the construction site of a small nuclear power plant with a RITM-200N reactor in the Jizzakh region of Uzbekistan, the Rosatom press service told TASS.
The Industrial Radiation and Nuclear Safety Committee of Uzbekistan has issued a permit for the use of a site for two power units with two RITM-200N reactor units, the press service added.
The State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom and the Atomic Energy Agency of Uzbekistan (Uzatom) signed a roadmap for cooperation in the nuclear and related fields.
The document was signed by Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev and Uzatom Director Azim Akhmedkhadjaev.
Rosatom and Uzatom also signed an additional agreement to the contract on a "new, integrated NPP structure" in Uzbekistan.
According to Likhachev, the signed roadmap for cooperation in the nuclear sector and related fields was developed under the direct instructions of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Prospects from NPP construction
Rosatom is making a transition to a new project implementation model, building nuclear power plant units of "fundamentally different capacities" on a single site, Likhachev stated.
The construction of a small unit at the NPP construction site in Uzbekistan alone will provide Russian companies with orders worth up to 2 trillion rubles ($24.7 bln) and about 1,000 jobs, he added.
According to him, the NPP in Uzbekistan, once fully operational, will provide up to 15% of the republic's total energy consumption, and "given population growth and very stable growth in gross domestic product, this is a significant response to the existing challenges."
Atomgrad in Uzbekistan
Likhachev announced that Rosatom and the authorities of Uzbekistan are discussing the creation of the so-called Atomgrad (a settlement near a NPP with enterprises of the nuclear sector - TASS) in the republic. According to him, Mirziyoyev asked Rosatom to take a systematic approach to developing nuclear energy in the republic.