Agreement. Russia and Vietnam have signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of the Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant. The document was signed during the visit of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to Moscow. The agreement provides for the construction of two Russian-designed power units equipped with VVER-1200 reactors delivering a combined capacity of 2,400 MW. The Leningrad II NPP (Units 1 and 2) was chosen as the reference design for the project in Vietnam. “For us, this is not merely a construction agreement for two nuclear power units. We see it as the foundation for a long-term industrial partnership that will strengthen Vietnam’s energy independence and unlock new opportunities for economic growth,” stated Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev. Beyond the flagship Ninh Thuan 1 project, Russia and Vietnam are continuing to work on the construction of a Nuclear Science and Technology Center in Vietnam, which will feature a Russian-designed research reactor. Another pillar of Russian-Vietnamese cooperation in the nuclear sector is the successful operation of the Dalat research reactor, which runs on Russian-supplied fuel and produces medical isotopes for Vietnam’s healthcare system.

The Government of Russia approved the agreement with Uzbekistan concerning importation to Russia of irradiated nuclear fuel (INF) of the research reactor IIN-3M. The parties signed this document in April. The agreement provides for repatriation to Russia of highly enriched Russia-designed INF of the Uzbekistani research reactor IIN-3M. The fuel will be subsequently reprocessed. As the result of the agreement there will no more highly enriched nuclear fuel in Uzbekistan. The fuel is planned to be repatriated before the end of 2014. The IIN-3M reactor has been converted to use low enriched fuel fabricated by the Fuel Company of ROSATOM TVEL.