Vietnam and Russia, in a joint statement, said they had agreed to sign and negotiate agreements on the construction of NPPs in Vietnam. The statement followed a visit to Moscow by a Vietnamese delegation led by Communist Party Secretary General To Lam to attend the 80th anniversary celebrations marking the end of World War II.
In April, the Vietnamese Government approved a revised National Electricity Development Plan for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 (PDP8), which now integrates the development of nuclear energy. Under the $136bn plan, Vietnam plans to increase total installed capacity to between 183 GWe and 236 GWe by 2030, up from just over 89 GWe at the end of 2023.
The first nuclear stations are planned to be commissioned from 2030 to 2035. The installed nuclear power is expected to reach from 4-6.4 GWe, equivalent to approximately 4-6 large nuclear plants. By 2050 a further 8 GWe of nuclear power would be added. The government previously stated that its planned nuclear programme will include the construction of two NPPs with a total capacity of 4,000 MWe in the central province of Nin Thuan.
Vietnam had planned the construction of two stations in 2009, but the National Assembly cancelled the plans in 2016 for economic reasons. The proposed plants were to be built by Rosatom and Japan Atomic Power Company. In December 2024, lawmakers asked the government to resume the development of the nuclear energy programme following approval by the Central Committee of the Communist Party.
According to a joint statement, “The two sides agreed to promptly negotiate and sign intergovernmental agreements on the construction of nuclear power plants in Vietnam, ensuring the application of advanced technology and strict compliance with regulations on nuclear and radiation safety serving socio-economic development.”
The statement stressed the need to improve the effectiveness of existing cooperation mechanisms, particularly the intergovernmental committee on economy-trade and scientific-technical cooperation, as well as the defence strategy dialogue. “Joint work in this field is not aimed against a third country and is completely in line with the principles and regulations of international law, contributing to ensuring security and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific and the world,” the statement added.
Vietnam and Russia also agreed to strengthen collaboration in the energy and oil-gas industries, as well as in the fields of mining industry, transport, shipbuilding and machinery manufacturing, railway modernisation, and the expansion of transport corridors between the two countries to boost trade and investment.
More specifically, Rosatom signed an inter-departmental roadmap with Vietnam for the period to 2030. The document was signed by the Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev and Vietnam’s Minister of Science & Technology Nguyen Man Hung.
The roadmap covers the construction of a nuclear science and technology centre; the supply of fuel for Vietnam’s research reactor in Dalat; Vietnam’s participation in the International Research Centre based on Russia’s MBIR (Mnogotselevoi Bistrii Issledovatelskii Reaktor) research reactor under construction at the Scientific Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (NIIAR – Nauchno Issledovatelskii Institut Atomnikh Reaktorov) in Dimitrovgrad; as well as training for the Vietnamese nuclear industry.
“For many decades, the flagship of our cooperation has been working in the research field. Soviet experts in the 1980s restarted a research reactor built by the Americans, and now Vietnamese experts have ordered from us a new research reactor,” said Likhachev. “We have already identified the site in the south of the country, in the province of Dongai, near Ho Chi Minh City, where there will soon be a powerful, modern, I think, the best research reactor in Southeast Asia. For our part, we also invite colleagues to Dimitrovgrad to conduct research on our promising multi-purpose fast reactor.”
He added: “In addition, this visit marked the transition to a new stage of cooperation – a project to construct a large nuclear power plant. We are offering our best-selling VVER-1200 reactor. Of course, negotiations should be held to clarify the technical appearance and financial support. Today, these negotiations have started. Of course, it will be a great honour and responsibility for us to build this flagship energy reactor in Southeast Asia, but we are at the very beginning of the path.”
In January, Rosatom Energy Projects and the Electric Power Corporation of Vietnam (EVN) signed a memorandum of understanding on the development of cooperation in the field of nuclear energy.
