Small Power Nuclear Power Plant (ASMM) in Uzbekistan

2024

Start of construction

On September 10, 2024, JSC Atomstroyexport (engineering division of Rosatom State Corporation) and the State Enterprise Directorate for the Construction of a Nuclear Power Plant at the Uzatom Agency signed a protocol on the start of work on the project of a small-capacity nuclear power plant (ASMM) in Uzbekistan. The document establishes the fact of fulfillment of priority conditions in terms of regulatory and financial obligations of the parties.

In the Jizak region of Uzbekistan, construction of ASMM is underway according to the Russian project. The plant will include six reactors with a capacity of 55 MW each, which will provide a total of 330 MW. JSC Atomstroyexport is the general contractor for the facility construction. In addition, local companies will be involved in the construction.

source = Uzatom

Today's signing marks the transition to active work on the implementation of the first ASMM in Uzbekistan and will allow us to begin direct work on the construction site in the near future, "says Otabek Amanov, head of the Nuclear Power Plant Construction Directorate at the Uzatom Agency.

The Uzbek project, as noted, is based on the latest Russian development - the RITM-200N water-water nuclear reactor, which is the result of adaptation of the innovative low-power technology of the ship's design RITM-200 for ground deployment. The key features of the complex are compactness, integral layout and reduced rates of construction compared to high-power nuclear power plants. The thermal capacity of the RITM-200N is 190 MW, (electric - 55 MW). The life of the installation reaches 60 years, the fuel will be rebooted every six years. The reactors are RITM-200 operated on the latest nuclear icebreakers of Project 22220 Arktika, Siberia and Ural, having proven their efficiency and absolute safety at all stages of the life cycle.^[1]

Conclusion of contract for NPP construction

On May 27, 2024, representatives of Rosatom and the Atomic Energy Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan signed a contract for the construction of a low-capacity nuclear power plant (ASMM). Negotiations on the construction of nuclear power plants have been going on for a long time, but initially it was about a station with two VVER-1200 water reactors. Therefore, the choice of ASMM from six 55 MW power units was somewhat unexpected news.

Apparently, we are talking about a ground-based version of the reactor for icebreakers - RITM-200N, wrote "Rybar." The reference unit will be the Yakutsk NPP, the construction of which is about to begin. The reactor plant is not being developed from scratch - this is an adaptation of the already operated transport reactor, which, in addition, will be easier: there is no need to put ship rolling into the design, work with serious rolls and trim of the ship.

The RITM-200 itself is designed for work with uranium fuel with enrichment up to 20% and campaign duration up to 10 years, unlike VVER/PWR with fuel enriched up to 5% and reloads every year and a half. It turns out that Uzbekistan will buy fuel from Russia from high-volume low-enriched uranium (HALEU).

In its current form, the solution looks good for both countries: Uzbekistan receives a nuclear power plant that will not be too large for its power system. At the same time, Russia is the first to export ASMM, showing first the working technology, and after a while the reference project.

A low-power nuclear power plant is good because it does not plunge a small country into large debts and allows you not to redraw the entire existing power system, which is not cheap. A successful project in Uzbekistan will allow Russia to reduce the entrance threshold for novice countries that want to get nuclear power, but do not "pull" a full-fledged nuclear power plant.

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