Vietnam has “largely completed” negotiations with Russia over the Ninh Thuận-1 NPP, according to VnExpress. A recent meeting the government’s standing committee on the implementation of nuclear energy projects noted that, after many rounds of negotiations, Vietnam and Russia had concluded a draft agreement on cooperation in the construction Ninh Thuận-1.
In November 2024, the 13th Party Central Committee had agreed to restart the Ninh Thuận projects, which were initially approved by the 12th National Assembly in 2009, but suspended in 2016. The decision was approved by the National Assembly the following month.
The Ninh Thuận 1 NPP project was a collaboration with Russia, which had completed and handed over the site approval documents and the English version of the feasibility study report at the end of December 2013. The Ninh Thuận 2 NPP project was a joint effort with Japan, which had completed and handed over the site approval documents and feasibility study report in 2014. Both projects had previously completed feasibility studies by design consultants but had not been approved. While collaboration with Russia on Ninh Thuận 1 has continued, Japan has formally pulled out of Ninh Thuận 2, opening the way for other technology suppliers.
Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Gennady Bezdetko told a press conference in Hanoi in December 2025 that Russia and Vietnam are “close to agreeing on a draft intergovernmental agreement” on the construction of Ninh Thuận-1. However, he noted that there were still some issues between the parties that needed to be resolved. “Once we receive a proposal for a compromise formulation of individual articles, we can move on to further work to agree on them. As soon as a mutually acceptable version of those articles that are still in the works is agreed upon, then it will make sense to talk about the timing of signing [of an intergovernmental agreement],” he said.
The previous September Rosatom and the Vietnamese company Power Engineering Consulting Joint Stock Company 2 had signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation on Ninh Thuận-1, including updating the feasibility study and site profile, as well as strengthening cooperation on infrastructure development and personnel training.
In May 2025, during an official visit to Moscow of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, To Lama, Russia and Vietnam adopted a roadmap for cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear energy until 2030, which provides for the development of nuclear energy in Vietnam with the participation of Rosatom.
Meanwhile, in January 2026, Russia’s Federal Service for Environmental, Technological & Nuclear Supervision, Rostekhnadzor, and the Vietnam Radiation & Nuclear Safety Agency (VARANS) met in Moscow to discuss issues of bilateral cooperation in the field of regulation of nuclear and radiation safety.
The Russian delegation was led by the head of Rosteckhnadzor, Alexander Trembitsky. The Vietnamese delegation, led by Deputy Minister of Science & Technology Le Xuan Dinh, included VARANS Director General Nguyen Hoang Linh and the Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (VINATOM), Nguyen Tuan Hai.
Discussion covered the priority tasks facing VARANS in preparation for the construction of the Centre for Nuclear Science & Technology, being built with Rosatom’s assistance, and Ninh Thuận-1. Information was provided on the activities of Rostekhnadzor and its scientific and technical support organisations.
The Vietnamese delegation’s visit to Russia also includes a meeting at Russia’s Federal State Budgetary Institution NTTs YaRB (Nauchno Tekhnicheskii Tsentr po Yadernoi I Radiatsionnoi Bezopasnosti) in Moscow and technical visits in St Petersburg. These included the Leningrad-II NPP and the Izhora plant,where long-lead NOO equipment is manufactured.
Cooperation between the nuclear and radiation safety regulatory authorities of Russia and Vietnam is carried out within the framework of the Agreement Rostekhnadzor and VARANS signed in Hanoi in 2010 and the 2018 Protocol amending the Agreement.
