Nuclear Energy - The Times Of Central Asia

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Nuclear Energy

Uzbekistan Begins Construction of First Nuclear Power Plant

Uzbekistan has started building its first nuclear power plant, turning a project discussed for nearly a decade into one of the largest energy commitments in the country's post-Soviet history. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin launched construction on June 4 by video link from Saint Petersburg. The plant site in the Forish district of the Jizzakh region was connected to the ceremony. Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also took part. The first concrete pour began overnight from June 4 to June 5 for the foundation slab of the plant's first small modular unit. The first stage used 133 cubic meters of concrete. The full pour is expected to exceed 10,000 cubic meters. Uzatom gave the site the official status of a nuclear power plant under construction under IAEA standards. The plan is no longer the modest small-reactor scheme agreed in 2024. The current design combines two large VVER-1000 reactors with two smaller RITM-200N units. Together, they would give the Jizzakh plant more than 2.1 GW of installed capacity. The small and large units will share one site and supporting infrastructure. That shift raised both the scale and the financial and regulatory stakes. This design is the latest version of a plan that has changed several times. Uzbekistan and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement on peaceful nuclear cooperation in 2017. In 2018, Rosatom was expected to build two VVER-1200 reactors. The focus later shifted to Jizzakh. In May 2024, Uzbekistan and Rosatom signed a contract for a 330 MW small nuclear plant with six RITM-200N reactors. The plan changed again in 2025, when Tashkent and Moscow settled on the larger mixed-reactor format now under construction. The timetable shows how long the project will take before Uzbekistan gets power from it. The first RITM-200N unit is listed for criticality in late 2029, with the two larger VVER-1000 reactors expected in 2033 and 2035. The push reflects Uzbekistan's fast-rising demand for power. The International Energy Agency says the country's 2020-2030 electricity concept aims to lift generation from 63.6 billion kWh to 120.8 billion kWh by 2030, while cutting gas use in power generation. Uzbekistan produced 86.7 billion kWh in 2025. Renewable power is growing, but officials want a steady baseload supply for industry and cities. Uzbek and Russian estimates put full annual output at about 17 billion kWh. Putin put the future share at up to 15% of Uzbekistan's electricity use, with Reuters also placing the expected contribution at around 15% of demand. Those figures depend on the timing of each unit and on future consumption, which is still rising. Financing is now one of the central questions. Uzatom director Azim Akhmedkhadjaev put the project's base price at $9.5 billion and described that figure as the maximum contract amount. The estimate does not include planned localization, which Uzbekistan wants to raise to 30%. Tashkent wants loans to cover 85-90% of the project and may discuss funding with the New Development Bank and other partners. Russia...

Nuclear Energy

Kazakhstan Recasts Its Nuclear Past

At the United Nations in late April, Robert Floyd, executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, warned that any renewed nuclear test by Russia, the United States, or another state could draw other nuclear powers back into testing. His remarks followed the re-emergence of nuclear testing as an issue in international political debate. Kazakhstan enters this debate from the opposite side of nuclear history. It is a former Soviet nuclear test ground that now defines its nuclear policy through civilian power, peaceful use, and non-proliferation. Kazakhstan’s nuclear future is shaped by its nuclear past. The country was a Soviet nuclear test ground at Semipalatinsk, now Semey, where late-Soviet public-health concerns helped force nuclear testing into public politics before the site’s closure. After independence, Kazakhstan renounced the Soviet-era nuclear weapons it inherited on its territory. Its present nuclear-energy policy begins from that record. It is not a search for nuclear status, but a civilian program formed by restraint, public memory, and national development. Semipalatinsk is the source of Kazakhstan’s authority on nuclear testing. Between 1949 and 1989, the Soviet Union used the site as one of its principal nuclear testing grounds. In total, 456 nuclear tests were conducted there, including 340 underground and 116 atmospheric tests. Kazakhstan closed the site in 1991. These facts remove the subject from arms-control abstraction. For Kazakhstan, nuclear testing is a territorial, social, public-health, and political inheritance, bound to the eastern steppe and the communities around the former test range. Atomic Lake gives that history a single, physical form. In January 1965, the Soviet Union carried out the Chagan underground nuclear explosion at the Semipalatinsk Test Site. The blast, with a yield of 140 kilotons, was part of a Soviet program for using underground nuclear explosions in civil engineering, including reservoirs and channels in water-scarce regions. It created the crater later known as Atomic Lake. The site remains a physical residue of the Soviet claim that nuclear explosions could serve economic and social development. This is why nuclear technology in Kazakhstan cannot be politically neutral. Independence gave Kazakhstan agency in that history. Kazakhstan transferred Soviet-era nuclear weapons to Russia by April 1995 and took part in cooperative threat reduction, including the sealing of test-site boreholes and tunnels. More recently, it became host to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Low Enriched Uranium Bank at Ulba, in Oskemen. The bank is an IAEA-owned fuel-assurance reserve for peaceful nuclear power, designed to support access to nuclear fuel without encouraging additional enrichment programs. Kazakhstan’s civilian nuclear claim, therefore, rests on practice: disarmament, threat reduction, and non-proliferation infrastructure. The policy now turns on a practical paradox. Kazakhstan has been the world’s leading uranium producer since 2009 and produced about 40% of the world’s uranium in 2025. Yet it has no operating nuclear power plant. Its Soviet-era BN-350 reactor, near Aktau on the Caspian Sea, was decommissioned in 1999 after decades of electricity generation and desalination. Kazakhstan is central to the global nuclear fuel cycle but has...

Uranium Supply

Kazatomprom Negotiates Long-Term Uranium Supply Deal with India

Kazakhstan’s national nuclear company Kazatomprom is negotiating a long-term uranium supply agreement with India as part of efforts to expand its presence in key global markets. The announcement was made by the company’s CEO, Meirzhan Yussupov, during a meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, according to a statement published on the presidential administration’s website. The potential contract forms part of Kazatomprom’s development strategy for 2025-2034, which focuses on diversifying export destinations and strengthening the company’s competitive position. In 2025, the company has already concluded supply agreements with several international energy firms, including Switzerland’s Axpo Power AG, the Czech Republic’s ČEZ Group and Japan’s Kansai Electric Power Co. Kazakhstan remains the world’s largest producer of uranium, accounting for roughly 21% of global output. Total production in the country reached 25,800 tons last year, with 13,500 tons generated by Kazatomprom’s own projects. The company’s sales volumes rose by 11% to 18,500 tons. Kazatomprom is also expanding its resource base. Its exploration portfolio includes six new prospective sites covering more than 1,000 square kilometers. Investment in geological exploration through 2030 is projected at between $155 million and $176 million. The company has placed increased emphasis on research and technological development, adopting a strategy through 2034 aimed at improving mining efficiency, reducing environmental impact, and introducing new production solutions. Since its initial public offering in 2018, Kazatomprom’s market capitalization has increased more than seven times, reflecting stronger investor interest in the uranium sector amid rising global demand for nuclear energy. The company also continues to invest in social initiatives in the regions where it operates. In 2025, more than $22 million was allocated to regional development projects, including about $12.5 million provided under contractual obligations. The Times of Central Asia previously reported that Kazakhstan had amended its Subsurface Use Code, increasing the state’s regulatory role in the uranium industry and reinforcing Kazatomprom’s position in the sector.

Nuclear Power Plant

IAEA to Review Uzbekistan Nuclear Power Project in 2026

A mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to visit Uzbekistan in the second half of 2026 to assess progress on the country’s nuclear power plant project, according to Uzbekistan’s Atomic Energy Agency (Uzatom). Preparations for the visit were discussed during a meeting between Uzatom Director Azim Akhmedkhadjaev and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi. Uzbek officials said the talks focused on expanding cooperation in nuclear energy and reviewing progress under a joint roadmap aimed at deepening collaboration. According to Uzatom, Grossi noted Uzbekistan’s efforts to develop nuclear energy in line with international standards and IAEA recommendations. He also referred to reforms carried out under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev that, in his view, have helped create the institutional conditions necessary for implementing the nuclear program. The planned follow-up Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) mission is expected to evaluate preparations for the construction of Uzbekistan’s first nuclear power plant. The facility is planned to be built in the Farish district of Jizzakh Region. Uzbek officials said IAEA specialists will assess progress on key aspects of the project during the visit. Grossi reportedly described the mission as an important stage in the implementation of Uzbekistan’s nuclear energy plans. Discussions also addressed the next practical phase of the project, including the start of initial construction works at the site. According to Uzatom, the planned nuclear power complex is expected to combine both large and small reactor units. At the conclusion of the meeting, Grossi confirmed the IAEA’s readiness to continue supporting Uzbekistan’s nuclear energy program and accepted an invitation to attend events marking the launch of construction. The sides also discussed increasing the number of Uzbek specialists working in the IAEA Secretariat, which officials say could strengthen national expertise in the nuclear sector and expand participation in international projects. The Times of Central Asia previously reported that Belarus has expressed readiness to assist Uzbekistan in developing nuclear power capacity and training specialists, offering to share experience gained through cooperation with Russia.

Nuclear Energy

Kazakhstan Discusses Local Production of Nuclear Power Plant Equipment with South Korea

Kazakhstan has discussed the possibility of localizing production of equipment for nuclear power plants (NPPs) with South Korean partners during a working visit to the Republic of Korea by Almasadam Satkaliyev, chairman of Kazakhstan’s Agency for Atomic Energy. According to the agency’s press service, the Kazakh delegation held meetings with officials from South Korea’s Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, as well as executives from major Korean companies, including Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and Doosan Enerbility. The talks focused on strengthening strategic cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, expanding technological partnerships, and developing industrial and investment collaboration. “Particular attention during the visit was given to cooperation with leading Korean companies that have extensive international experience in nuclear power plant construction and high-tech manufacturing,” the Kazakh agency said in a statement. “The sides discussed the development of industrial cooperation, including the possibility of localizing the production of equipment and individual components in Kazakhstan, as well as involving Kazakh enterprises in the technological and manufacturing chains of nuclear energy projects.” During discussions with South Korean government representatives, Kazakhstan presented its priorities for developing the national nuclear industry, including institutional reforms and the creation of a modern system of state regulation and management of the sector. The parties also exchanged views on nuclear and radiation safety standards and explored opportunities to share regulatory experience and best practices in managing nuclear energy programs. Another key topic was workforce development for the nuclear sector. Discussions covered potential cooperation in training specialists, expanding educational programs, and exchanging professional expertise necessary for the implementation of long-term nuclear energy projects. “The meetings confirmed mutual interest in further strengthening the partnership, expanding institutional dialogue, and deepening practical cooperation between Kazakhstan and the Republic of Korea in the development of the nuclear energy sector,” the agency said. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Kazakhstan has already selected partners for the construction of three nuclear power plants. The first project will be led by Russia’s Rosatom, while the second and third plants are expected to be built by the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). Earlier this year, the authorities also selected the site for the country’s second nuclear power plant in the Zhambyl District of the Almaty Region, close to the location chosen for the first plant near the village of Ulken on Lake Balkhash.

Nuclear Energy

U.S. and Kazakhstan Expand Civil Nuclear Cooperation With Focus on Small Modular Reactors

The United States and Kazakhstan have expanded cooperation on civil nuclear energy, placing small modular reactors at the center of a new phase in bilateral engagement. In late December 2025, the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan announced two initiatives under the U.S. State Department’s Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology program, known as FIRST. The measures focus on workforce training and technical evaluation as Kazakhstan prepares to reintroduce nuclear power generation. Kazakhstan is the first country in Central Asia to participate in the FIRST program, which was launched by the U.S. State Department in 2021 to help partner countries prepare regulatory frameworks, workforce capacity, and infrastructure for advanced nuclear technologies. The first initiative provides for the installation of a classroom-based SMR (small modular reactor) simulator at the Kazakhstan Institute of Nuclear Physics in Almaty. The simulator is intended to train specialists in reactor operations, safety systems, and emergency response. On January 6, 2026, the American Nuclear Society reported that the simulator will be supplied by U.S. companies Holtec International and WSC Inc., a simulation technology company that operates as part of the Curtiss-Wright group. The project is designed to build domestic technical capacity prior to licensing or construction decisions. The International Science and Technology Center is supporting implementation in Kazakhstan. The second initiative is a feasibility study examining which U.S.-designed SMRs could be technically and economically suitable for Kazakhstan. According to the American Nuclear Society, the study is being conducted under FIRST, with U.S. engineering firm Sargent & Lundy. The assessment is expected to cover grid integration, siting considerations, cooling requirements, and indicative deployment timelines. The study does not authorize construction or commit Kazakhstan to a specific reactor technology; rather, the feasibility study is intended to produce a shortlist of U.S. SMR designs that could be compatible with Kazakhstan’s grid, geography, and projected electricity demand. These initiatives follow Kazakhstan’s decision to return to nuclear power. On October 6, 2024, voters approved the construction of nuclear power plants in a national referendum. Official results published by the Central Referendum Commission showed 71.12% voting in favor, with turnout at 63.66%. Kazakhstan has not generated nuclear electricity since the BN-350 fast reactor at Aktau was shut down in 1999. Government energy planners have warned that Kazakhstan faces growing electricity shortfalls as early as the mid-2020s, driven by aging coal plants and rising consumption. Kazakhstan’s interest in nuclear energy reflects structural pressures in the power sector. Coal-fired plants still supply most electricity, particularly in northern regions, but much of that capacity is aging. Electricity demand continues to rise alongside industrial output and urban growth, while the government has set targets to reduce emissions intensity. Nuclear power is being positioned as a source of stable, low-carbon baseload generation that can complement renewable energy. Kazakhstan also occupies a central position in the global nuclear fuel market. The country accounts for about 40% of global uranium mine production and holds roughly 14% of identified recoverable uranium resources. Despite that role, the country has relied...