Uzbekistan has confirmed it has begun preliminary site work for the construction of its first commercial nuclear power units, with the preparation of external infrastructure for two Russia-supplied pressurised water reactor units scheduled to begin next year.The central Asian country signed an inter-governmental agreement with Russia in September 2018 for the development of the its first nuclear power station. The facility, which will be constructed by Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom, will have two blocks with a combined capacity of 2,400 MW. The first is due to come on line in 2028 and the second in 2030. Engineering and geological work has begun at the site, an area near Lake Tuzkan in Jizzakh province, west of the capital Tashkent in the east of the country.