Russian nuclear giant Rosatom and Vietnam’s state-owned Vietnam Electricity have signed a framework agreement for building the Southeast Asian country’s first nuclear power plant, the Russian energy company announced on Monday. Under the agreement, two units of Ninh Thuan-1 Nuclear Power Plant will be built, each of which will have a capacity of 1,200 megawatts. Rosatom intends to engage Vietnamese companies in the project, localizing up to 30-40% of equipment manufacturing and construction. Moscow and Hanoi signed an initial agreement to build the plant back in October 2010. The construction was originally scheduled for 2020, but later media reported that the timing might be changed. Hanoi plans to build and put into operation 13 nuclear power units by 2030. The country aims to generate 15 gigawatts of nuclear power, or about 10% of Vietnam’s total electricity production.
