The governments of Russia and Laos have signed an agreement on cooperation in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The agreement was signed after talks between Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and his Laotian counterpart, Sonexay Siphandone, at the House of Government in Moscow. Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev and Laotian Industry and Commerce Minister Malaythong Kommasith signed the document in the presence of the two prime ministers.
The agreement was signed in Moscow by Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev and the Minister of Industry and Trade of Laos Malaithong Kommasith, in the presence of the prime ministers of both countries, Mikhail Mishustin and Sonexay Siphandone.
The intergovernmental agreement is a fundamental document for the establishment of full-scale cooperation in the nuclear sphere, the press service of Rosatom said. It lays the groundwork to start working on a project for the construction of a Russian-designed NPP in Laos.
At the first stage, it is proposed to conduct a preliminary feasibility study for the integration of the future NPP into the Laos energy system. The study will determine the configuration of the project and potential regions for the plant’s location, enabling Laos to make an informed decision on the nuclear energy development programme.
Laos has nuclear ambitions but does not yet operate a nuclear reactor. Since 2016, it has worked with Rosatom on possible nuclear cooperation, including future power plants, nuclear medicine, training, safety standards, and a possible research reactor. In 2025, the two countries advanced a roadmap for a future nuclear power plant, potentially using Russia’s reactor technology.
The agreement with Laos follows a series of nuclear energy partnerships signed by Russia in the region. In March 2025, Russia and Myanmar signed an agreement to build a small modular nuclear power plant in Myanmar using Russia’s RITM reactor technology. Earlier this year, Russia and Vietnam signed an intergovernmental agreement for the construction of Vietnam’s NPP, Ninh Thuan 1, using Russia’s Generation III+ VVER-1200 reactor technology.
