As a one-day international conference on nuclear energy takes place, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced that the country will work with the International Atomic Energy Agency to expand cooperation in the development of nuclear energy. Uzbekistan’s national nuclear agency Uzatom and the World Nuclear Association have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote bilateral cooperation.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Mirziyoyev met ahead of the one-day meeting Prospects for the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in the sustainable development of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Conference on December 5th in Samarkand.

Uzbekistan has been a member of the IAEA for 30 years and has implemented more than 40 joint projects with the agency’s technical support. According to a statement from the Uzbek presidency, five such projects are currently underway.

Cooperation priorities identified during the meeting included improving the competence and potential of national agencies, preparing highly qualified personnel, and future projects in nuclear energy, agriculture, water use, health and ecology under IAEA programs , which culminated in an agreement to adopt a common roadmap to “expand multidimensional cooperation on peaceful nuclear development,” the presidency said.

According to the World Nuclear Association, Uzbekistan – which has significant mineral deposits – is the world’s fifth largest supplier of uranium. The country’s electricity generation is predominantly determined by natural gas, which accounted for around 88% of the electricity generation mix in 2021, and the country also imports electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Demand is expected to double by 2030.

In 2017, Uzbekistan signed an agreement with Russia to build two large VVER pressurized water reactors. However, infrastructure work has recently begun on the construction of a small six-unit modular reactor nuclear power plant to be built in the Jizzakh region on the 55 MW pressurized water reactor RITM-200N. This would be the first export order for the Russian design: the first land-based version is currently being built in Yakutia, in Russia’s Arctic north. Rosatom’s general director, Alexei Likhachev, said in a television interview earlier this year that proposals to build a large nuclear power plant of around 2.5 GW in Uzbekistan still exist.

Addressing the conference, Mirziyoyev said that ensuring reliable, safe, cost-effective and environmentally friendly energy sources is one of the top priorities in large-scale reforms in “New Uzbekistan”.

“We have established a National Agency to strengthen the regulatory and legal framework in this sector, adopted a law on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, a long-term concept for the development of nuclear energy and a strategy to strengthen human resources in this area. “We have introduced a system to train highly qualified specialists for the industry,” he said.

“There is no doubt that the introduction of advanced nuclear energy technologies will give a strong impetus to the development of our country, create opportunities for new scientific and technical developments and the transition to an innovative economy.”

Bilateral cooperation

The Memorandum of Understanding between Uzatom and the World Nuclear Association signed during the conference sets out a number of activities in which cooperation can be pursued, including exchange of nuclear-related information, cooperation in bringing together key decision-makers of countries developing nuclear energy, and increasing nuclear awareness of each other’s activities and goals among other things.

Uzatom’s mission is to develop and implement government policies for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in Uzbekistan, including the construction and operation of nuclear power plants, promoting nuclear science, ensuring security and promoting nonproliferation. The World Nuclear Association is an international organization representing the global nuclear industry and includes companies operating across the nuclear fuel cycle on all continents.