Overview
- The cooperation pact, signed Monday in Moscow, sets the legal basis for Vietnam’s first nuclear plant yet gives no dates for construction or first power.
- The project calls for two Russian VVER-1200 pressurized-water reactors with a combined 2,400 megawatts at the Ninh Thuan site, modeled on Russia’s Leningrad plant.
- Hanoi is turning to nuclear to boost energy security after the Middle East war strained supplies and pushed gasoline and diesel prices sharply higher at home.
- The move revives a program shelved in 2016 over cost and safety concerns, which Vietnam’s National Assembly cleared to restart in November 2024.
- Broader energy ties advanced in parallel, including a preliminary liquefied natural gas supply deal disclosed by Novatek and a separate oil and gas cooperation pact reported by Russia.