Uzbekistan Partners With Rosatom on Nuclear Waste Disposal

Uzbekistan’s nuclear agency, Uzatom, and Russia’s Rosatom have signed a memorandum of understanding on the management of radioactive waste, TASS reports.

Under the agreement, Russia will provide expert support for the disposal of nuclear waste and the decommissioning of ageing nuclear power plants. The project also includes training Uzbek specialists to work in the sector. Rosatom has implemented a similar initiative in Belarus, where it established a national operator for radioactive waste management.

The memorandum follows a May 2024 agreement between Tashkent and Moscow to build a small-scale nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan’s Jizzakh region. Plans are also under discussion to construct larger Russian-designed nuclear reactors in the country, signalling an expansion of bilateral cooperation in the energy sector.

Kursiv also reports that Rosatom proposed establishing a nuclear cluster in Uzbekistan.