Rosatom

Uzbekistan builds its first nuclear plant with Russia's Rosatom

Builder and technology supplier

Uzbekistan has never run a nuclear reactor. On June 4, 2026, by video link from an economic forum in St. Petersburg, the presidents of Russia and Uzbekistan started construction of the country's first one.

Updated Jun 4

Bangladesh begins fueling Rooppur nuclear plant

Built World

Lead contractor and export financier for Rooppur

Bangladesh first considered building a nuclear plant in 1961, when the site at Rooppur was still part of East Pakistan. Sixty-five years later, on April 28, 2026, technicians began lowering 163 uranium fuel assemblies into the core of Unit 1—the step that turns a construction project into a nuclear power station.

Updated May 31

Repeated strikes near Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor raise specter of radioactive disaster in the Gulf

Force in Play

Conducting final staff evacuation from Bushehr; approximately 50 volunteers remaining

A projectile struck 350 meters from Iran's only operating nuclear reactor on April 4, killing a security guard and damaging an auxiliary building. It was the fourth time ordnance has landed on or near the Bushehr nuclear power plant since the United States and Israel began striking Iran on February 28.

Updated May 30

U.S. and Hungary sign nuclear energy partnership

Rule Changes

Building Paks II nuclear plant; fuel supplier until 2028

For decades, Hungary has relied almost entirely on Russia for nuclear fuel, natural gas, and oil—a dependency that persisted even as the rest of Europe scrambled to cut ties after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. On February 16, 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó signed an agreement. Hungary can now purchase up to 10 American-built small modular reactors worth as much as $20 billion and will start receiving Westinghouse fuel for its Paks I plant by 2028.

Updated May 29

Washington keeps two quiet Russia loopholes open: Japan’s Sakhalin-2 oil and the nuclear fuel money pipe

Rule Changes

Russian nuclear ecosystem influence drives why civil nuclear carve-outs exist

Sanctions are supposed to close doors. On December 17, the U.S. quietly propped two doors back open again, even as it slammed others shut. One narrow lane keeps Sakhalin-2 crude flowing to Japan; the other preserves financial channels for civil nuclear projects, even when payments touch sanctioned Russian banks—both running through June 18, 2026.

Updated May 15