Rosatom bets on a record four foreign reactor start-ups in 2026, sanctions permitting

Summary

Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev set a target of four foreign reactor start-ups in 2026: Türkiye's [[Akkuyu]] unit 1 (mandated by December), Bangladesh's Rooppur unit 1, and China's Tianwan-7 and Xudapu-3. If all land, it would be a record for simultaneous foreign commissionings, and critical to defending a stated $206bn order book. All four have slipped: Akkuyu was delayed by sanctions after Siemens withheld ~$2bn in already-paid equipment and $2bn was frozen, forcing Chinese component substitution; Rooppur runs ~two years behind. Ankara secured ~$9bn in additional Russian financing in late 2025 to complete the four-unit Akkuyu project.

By the numbers

• 4, foreign units Rosatom aims to start up in 2026 (record if achieved).
• $206bn, Rosatom's stated foreign-build order book.
• ~$9bn, additional Russian financing for Akkuyu, agreed late 2025.
• ~$2bn, Siemens equipment frozen/withheld over export-permit scrutiny.
• ~2 years, Rooppur's slippage from its original 2024 plan.

Why it matters

Civil nuclear exports are Russia's most sanctions-resilient industrial lever and a tool of long-term geopolitical lock-in: each reactor binds a host to decades of Russian fuel and service. The 2026 cohort tests whether sanctions merely delay, or can actually halt, that machine.

What to watch

• Whether Akkuyu unit 1 energises by the December deadline.
• Chinese-component substitution for sanctioned Western equipment.
• Host-country financing strain and any further EU/UK/US designations.