Russia willing to help Vietnam build large nuclear power plant: Deputy PM

Russia is ready to participate in the construction of a large nuclear power plant and land-based or floating small modular reactors in Vietnam, says Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

Alexander Novak made the statement at a Wednesday meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Miinh Chinh on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit and the expanded BRICS meeting in Kazan, Russia.

BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The two sides discussed cooperation in fuel and energy, such as opportunities for Vietnam-Russia oil-gas joint venture Vietsovpetro to make new field development projects on the country’s sea shelf; renewable energy; education-science; tourism; banking-finance; and agriculture.

For his part, the Vietnamese PM highlighted the growing partnership between the two countries. Vietnam always welcomes and facilitates Russian firms, including oil-gas ones, to expand their activities in the country, he noted.

Chinh called on the Russian government to further collaborate with Vietnam amid the global trend of green energy.

Vietnam currently has no nuclear power project. In September, the Ministry of Industry and Trade was tasked with studying development of nuclear power as a baseload source.

Vietnam’s latest national power development plan VIII (PDP VIII) does not include nuclear power, but the country is considering small modular reactors (SMRs), including floating reactors, with a capacity of 300 MW each.

The Vietnamese government has proposed that the State is the sole investor in nuclear power development, under its draft amended law on electricity.