Russia’s Rosatom says overseas nuclear plant projects continue despite new UK sanctions

MOSCOW/ALMATY, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Russian state-owned Rosatom said on Thursday that it would continue its foreign nuclear power plant projects and keep meeting its obligations despite new ​British sanctions against Russian companies.

Britain included Rosatom’s three ‌subsidiaries linked to its foreign projects in its latest sanctions package, its largest since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022. The UK government said the subsidiaries were included because they are involved “in trying to secure ‌contracts ​for new Russian nuclear installations overseas, opening ⁠up additional energy revenue ⁠streams to make up for plummeting oil revenues”.

“Rosatom regards any unilateral restrictions as illegitimate under international law. In the field of peaceful nuclear energy, safety is the overriding priority. ​Measures of this kind undermine that foundation,” Rosatom said in a statement.

Rosatom itself is not subject to sanctions.

As of ⁠2024, Rosatom had the world’s largest ⁠portfolio of foreign nuclear power plant projects – 33 ​large-capacity power units. The company is currently building nuclear plants in ​Turkey, Egypt, China, Bangladesh, Hungary, Kazakhstan and elsewhere.

Rosatom said ‌it is the world’s No. 1 nuclear power plant builder with a 90% market share and is a key player in nuclear fuel supply.

KAZAKHSTAN PROJECT

In June 2025, Kazakhstan chose Rosatom to ⁠lead an international consortium to build the country’s first nuclear power plant.

The Kazakhstan Atomic Energy Agency (KAEA) said on Thursday that UK sanctions ⁠will not affect ‌the construction process because it does not ⁠have any contract relations with sanctioned entities or ​individuals ‌and does not plan to involve them as ​subcontractors.

Work on ⁠the power plant is currently progressing as planned and the agency is monitoring sanctions policies of other countries and taking risks into account, the agency said.

(Reporting by Anastasiya Lyrchikova, Mariya Gordeyeva and Olesya Astakhova; Writing by Anastasia Teterevleva and Gleb Stolyarov; Editing ​by Susan Fenton)