Uzbekistan and Turkey Discuss Cooperation on Civil Construction and Infrastructure Works for the First Nuclear Power Plant

The Uzbek Atomic Energy Development Agency (Uzatom) and a delegation from Turkey's large engineering and construction group Özaltın Holding held high-level working talks in Tashkent on September 25, focusing on the feasibility of multi-faceted engineering cooperation in the construction of Uzbekistan's first nuclear power plant project.

It is understood that the talks were chaired by Azim Axmedxadjayev, Director of Uzatom, and Muzaffer Özdemir, CEO of Özaltın Holding, led the delegation. The two sides exchanged views on the full-cycle construction requirements of the nuclear power project and conducted an in-depth assessment of the technical capabilities and implementation pathways of Turkish contractors in complex nuclear civil construction, supporting external infrastructure, and large-volume hydraulic structure construction.

Axmedxadjayev noted that the advancement of Uzbekistan's nuclear power plant project is fully aligned with the energy strategic reform direction pursued by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The head of state explicitly proposed actively introducing high-level international engineering companies with rich practical experience while accelerating the cultivation of local enterprises, increasing the localization rate of equipment and materials, and training Uzbek nuclear technical personnel. It is precisely based on this strategic consideration that Uzatom is systematically engaging international companies with qualifications for large-scale complex energy and infrastructure performance to participate in project bidding and collaboration.

Özdemir, CEO of Özaltın Holding, stated that the group has long been deeply engaged in major global energy, transportation, and water conservancy infrastructure sectors and highly appreciates the achievements of Uzbekistan's energy and industrial system reform. He emphasized that Özaltın Holding intends to leverage its expertise in large-scale earthwork and rockwork, special hydraulic structures, external comprehensive transportation networks, and the construction of supporting residential community facilities for nuclear power plants to deeply engage in and comprehensively evaluate the relevant construction lots of Uzbekistan's nuclear power plant. At the conclusion of the talks, the two sides confirmed that they would establish a regular communication mechanism to continuously carry out technical information exchanges regarding potential engineering cooperation.

Özaltın Holding was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Ankara, Turkey. It has led the construction of major hydropower station dams in Turkey, including Kığı, Beyhan, and Kaleköy, as well as landmark overseas projects such as the Osmangazi Bridge, a road tunnel project in Romania, and the Wadi Arab II water pipeline network in Jordan. In the nuclear-related engineering field, the group previously undertook in depth the large-scale expert residential campus and supporting civil construction tasks in Silifke for Turkey's first nuclear power plant—the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant—accumulating mature experience in nuclear-related engineering collaborative performance.