Uzbekistan. Rosatom’s engineering division AtomStroyExport (ASE) and the NPP Construction Directorate of Uzbekistan’s Agency for Nuclear Energy Development (UzAtom) signed a protocol on the commencement of on-site works to build an SMR nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan. “The protocol signed today documents that the parties have met their regulatory and financial conditions precedent. Rosatom’s engineering division is now moving ahead with drafting technical documents required to obtain an SMR site license and site survey permits,” said Pavel Bezrukov, Director for NPP Construction Projects in Central Asia at ASE. Preliminary work on the SMR project began in the summer of this year. The contract signed in May 2024 provides for the construction of a Russian-designed 330 MW SMR nuclear power plant with six 55 MW reactors in Uzbekistan’s Jizzakh region.