Russia and Vietnam agreed to a deal on March 23 to build Vietnam’s first nuclear power plant, formalizing a major energy partnership between the two countries.
The agreement, signed in Moscow during an official visit by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Russia, establishes the legal framework governing construction and cooperation on the Ninh Thuan 1 plant in central Vietnam.
Alexey Likhachev, director-general of Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom, and Tran Van Son, minister-chairman of the Government Office of Vietnam, signed the document in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Pham.
Rosatom said in a March 23 statement that the deal “will define the direction of Russian-Vietnamese cooperation in the nuclear sector for decades to come.”
Likhachev framed the project as more than a construction contract.
“We see it as the foundation for a long-term industrial partnership that will strengthen Vietnam’s energy independence and create new opportunities for economic growth,” he said in the statement.
Under the deal, the plant will include two Russian-designed power units equipped with VVER-1200 reactors, with a combined installed capacity of 2,400 megawatts.
The design will be based on units at Russia’s Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant-2, which the company described as the reference model for the project.
Vietnam Revives Nuclear Ambitions
Vietnam’s National Assembly approved a government proposal in November 2024 to restart the Ninh Thuan nuclear project, aiming to bolster national energy security amid growing demand, a Vietnamese government news website reported.The project involves constructing two nuclear power plants with a combined capacity of about 400 megawatts in the area formerly known as Ninh Thuan Province, now part of Khanh Hoa Province in central Vietnam.
Vietnamese officials estimate that electricity consumption will grow by 12 percent to 13 percent in 2025 and reach roughly 1,200 billion kilowatt-hours by 2045, compared with about 1,000 billion kilowatt-hours projected under the country’s existing national power development plan.
Broader Cooperation
The Ninh Thuan 1 plant is the centerpiece of a wider nuclear partnership between Moscow and Hanoi that spans research, fuel supply, and technology development.Rosatom stated that Moscow and Hanoi are also working to build a nuclear science and technology center in Vietnam, which will include a Russian-designed research reactor. Feasibility study materials are expected to be completed in April 2026, after which the sides will discuss a construction contract.
Russia has long supplied fuel for Vietnam’s Dalat research reactor, which produces medical isotopes, according to Rosatom. Vietnam has also expressed interest in joining an international consortium centered on the multipurpose sodium-cooled fast neutron research reactor, the company stated.
These projects reflect decades of cooperation dating back to the Soviet era, when Moscow supported Vietnam’s scientific and industrial development.