First Deputy Minister of Energy – Director of the Agency for Nuclear Energy Development (Uzatom) Azim Akhmedkhodjayev, in an interview with Gazeta.uz on the sidelines of the Tashkent Investment Forum, explained at what stage negotiations with Russia are at regarding the construction of a nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan.
At the end of March, First Deputy Head of Rosatom Kirill Komarov said that negotiations between Uzbekistan and Russia on the nuclear power plant were going “quite successfully”. According to him, experts have already examined in detail the site where the construction of the nuclear power plant is planned, and the most optimal technological solutions have been determined.
He also added that engineers and companies from around the world, including France and South Korea, will participate in the project.
“We are just negotiating now, general words for now, nothing concrete. The Russian side also speaks in a little general terms, but they speak with some additions and take this into a different story. Overall, there is nothing yet, just general words. With them, we are only considering the directions, what opportunities exist and in what directions,” the head of Uzatom said.
According to him, Uzbekistan and Russia are discussing cooperation not only in nuclear energy.
“Because an atom is not only energy. There is medicine, there is agriculture, there is water purification, and so on. We are currently exploring other similar areas. After this, we will clearly understand which area is closer to us and which direction we should develop first,” Azim Akhmedkhodjayev said.
Azim Akhmedkhodjayev also said that there are no negotiations with other countries on nuclear energy.
“There are no specific negotiations with any country. Various proposals are coming from other countries, for example, from the USA or Korea. If you noticed, they came to us from Hyundai. There are different proposals, we will consider them in working order,” he said.
At the end of December, Hyundai Engineering announced that it was considering the possibility of building small nuclear reactors in Uzbekistan. We are talking about advanced modular reactors based on integrated systems (SMART), which KAERI has been developing since 1997. Cooling systems use high pressure water.
Earlier, Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov indicated in an interview with Daryo that meetings and negotiations with the Russian Rosatom are continuing.
“Taking into account the fact that this is a very large strategic project, there is no need to rush, you need to weigh everything, measure not 7 times, but 77 times. After a complete analysis and calculations, we can submit a report to the government and the president,” the head of the Ministry of Energy noted.
