Russian nuclear engineer Rosatom has offered to build two VVER-1200 reactors in Vietnam, and help with wind and battery projects, the Interfax agency reports.

Vietnam and Russia have signed an agreement on nuclear energy alongside several other cooperation deals.The signing took place during Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin's visit to the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.

Chief executive Alexei Likhachev told journalists in Hanoi after meeting Vietnamese prime minister Pham Minh Chinh that Rosatom would update agreements reached 10 years ago.

He called VVER-1200s “the most advanced, cutting-edge facilities, only six of which have been built in the world”.

Vietnam is seeking to revive plans on civil nuclear power, after shelving the construction of two nuclear power plants in 2016 due to rising costs and safety concerns. Vietnam wants to restart its nuclear power programme with the aim of completing its first plant by 2030. The aim is to help make the country energy efficient and meet the target of reducing additional greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Citing concerns over cost and safety, the National Assembly voted that year to abandon plans to build two plants in cooperation with Russia and Japan.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered the Industry and Trade Ministry to produce a detailed plan to restart work on one of these, the Ninh Thuan plant in the south of the country.

In June 2024, Rosatom and the Vietnamese Science and Technology Agency signed a memorandum scheduling the construction of a nuclear science and technology centre in Vietnam.