# Rosatom bets on a record four foreign reactor start-ups in 2026, sanctions permitting
> Akkuyu, Rooppur and two Chinese units are slated to come online, defending a $206bn order book as Western financing and equipment routes close

**Meta:** type: story · date: 2026-03-12 · heads: The Long Game, How Wars Actually End · 10 takes · 3 lenses · 5 regions

## Summary

[Rosatom](/ko/entity/rosatom) Director General Alexei Likhachev set a target of four foreign reactor start-ups in
2026: [Türkiye](/ko/entity/turkey)'s [[Akkuyu]] unit 1 (mandated by December), [Bangladesh](/ko/entity/bangladesh)'s
Rooppur unit 1, and [China](/ko/entity/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](/ko/n/eu-russia-21st-sanctions-package-2026) after
Siemens withheld ~$2bn in already-paid equipment and $2bn was frozen, forcing [Chinese](/ko/entity/china)
component substitution; Rooppur runs ~two years behind. [Ankara](/ko/entity/turkey) 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.

## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens)

### unlabelled
- **Rosatom** (Russia, ru) — Company project portfolio, the foreign-build pipeline (Akkuyu, Rooppur, Tianwan, Xudapu) underpinning the stated $206bn order book.
  Source: https://www.rosatom.ru/en/investors/projects/
- **Anadolu Agency** (Turkey, en) — 
  Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/energy/nuclear/eu-sanctions-will-not-impede-akkuyu-nuclear-plant-financing-rosatom/36979
- **Türkiye Today** (Turkey, en) — 
  Source: https://www.turkiyetoday.com/business/russias-rosatom-says-first-unit-of-turkiyes-akkuyu-nuclear-plant-to-launch-in-2026-3211917
- **Turkish Minute** (Turkey, en) — 
  Source: https://turkishminute.com/2025/10/30/turkeys-first-nuclear-plant-built-by-rosatom-to-begin-power-generation-in-2026-minister/
- **Power Magazine** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://www.powermag.com/russias-rosatom-will-continue-foreign-nuclear-power-plant-projects-despite-uk-sanctions/
- **CSIS** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://www.csis.org/analysis/geopolitics-russias-civil-nuclear-exports-four-years-war
- **Nordic Monitor** (Sweden, en) — 
  Source: https://nordicmonitor.com/2025/08/turkey-unable-to-push-russia-to-speed-up-nuclear-plant-as-financial-and-diplomatic-tensions-mount/
- **ANS Nuclear Newswire** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://www.ans.org/news/tag-rosatom/step-1627655401/

### nuclear-industry trade
- **World Nuclear News** (United Kingdom, en) — Reports DG Likhachev's target of four foreign start-ups, Turkey, Bangladesh and two China units, calling 2026 potentially a record year if delayed projects finally land.
  > "First units in Bangladesh and Turkey, plus Tianwan-7 and Xudapu-3 in China, could all start up during 2026."
  Source: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/rosatom-hopes-for-four-foreign-unit-start-ups-in-2026

### Russian business press
- **1ru.ru** (Russia, ru) — Russian-language coverage framing the launches as sanctions defiance; notes all four projects slipped right, Akkuyu on sanctions, Rooppur ~two years behind plan.
  > "Despite sanctions, Rosatom plans to launch four power units abroad in 2026, critical for its order portfolio."
  Source: https://www1.ru/en/news/2026/03/12/sankciiam-vopreki-rosatom-planiruet-zapustit-cetyre-energobloka-za-rubezom-v-2026-godu.html

## Across the graph
- Related: [[us-enrichment-deRussification-2026]], [[kazatomprom-2026-output-strategy]], [[asean-russia-kazan-summit]], [[eu-russia-21st-sanctions-package-2026]]
- Entities: Rosatom, Russia, Turkey, Bangladesh, China

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Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/ko/n/rosatom-foreign-fleet-2026