Agreement establishes framework for two-unit VVER-1200 PWR project
Russia and Vietnam have signed an intergovernmental agreement to cooperate on the construction of the Southeast Asian country’s first nuclear power station, Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom said.
Rosatom said that the intergovernmental agreement covers the terms and key areas of cooperation and establishes the framework for the plant’s construction.
Vietnam’s first nuclear project, the Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power station, foresees the construction of two Russia-designed VVER-1200 pressurised water reactor units with an installed capacity of 2,400 MW.
The agreement was signed in Moscow during an official visit by Vietnam’s prime minister Pham Minh Chinh.
Rosatom said the deal creates the necessary legal framework for the plant's construction and will determine the direction of Russia-Vietnam cooperation in the nuclear sector “for decades to come.”
The VVER-1200 Generation III+ PWR design is already in operation in Russia and Belarus. Rosatom’s has also exported the technology for construction in Hungary, Turkey, Egypt, China, and Bangladesh.
Russia and Vietnam are also cooperating on the construction of a nuclear science and technology centre in Vietnam, which will include a Russian-designed research reactor, said Rosatom.
A feasibility study for the centre is expected to be completed in April 2026.
According to earlier reports, Vietnam aims to have its first nuclear power station online in Ninh Thuan before the end of 2031 and a second between 2036 and 2040.
In April 2025, the government approved a revised version of its national power development plan, allocating $136bn (€117bn) by 2030 to strengthen long-term energy security and including nuclear power for the first time.
The government had said its planned nuclear programme would involve building two nuclear power stations with a combined capacity of about 4,000 GW.
Vietnam had planned the two stations as far back as 2009, but the National Assembly rejected the proposal in 2016 on cost grounds. Hanoi had selected Rosatom and Japan Atomic Power Company to build the stations, agreeing to a loan of $8bn from Russia for the first facility, with construction originally planned to start in 2014.
In December 2024, lawmakers asked the government to resume the development of the nuclear power programme and Vietnam reached out to foreign reactor technology partners.
In January 2025, Vietnam and Russia signed an agreement to deepen cooperation on nuclear power, marking a potentially crucial development in Hanoi’s plans to revive abandoned plans to build commercial reactors.
In June, Bloomberg reported Vietnam was seeking urgent discussions with Russia to accelerate its nuclear programme and sign an investment cooperation agreement for a first nuclear power station.
According to a report by accountancy company PwC, Vietnam’s expected economic growth over the next three decades means a need for 150 GW in installed energy generation capacity by 2030, and 500 GW by 2050, from about 80 GW today.
