Key facts
- Vinatom and the MBIR consortium company signed the memorandum on November 3, 2026, according to a Rosatom release.
- The memorandum covers joint research, access to MBIR's experimental infrastructure and conditions for Vinatom to join the consortium.
- MBIR is a fast-neutron research reactor with a thermal capacity of about 150 MW, under construction in Dimitrovgrad.
- China and Uzbekistan are full members of the MBIR consortium, BBC News Tieng Viet reported.
The Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute, known as Vinatom, and the company leading the consortium behind Russia's MBIR research reactor signed a memorandum of understanding on November 3, 2026, to cooperate on nuclear technology research, according to a Rosatom press release cited by BBC News Tieng Viet.
The memorandum covers joint research, access to the MBIR experimental infrastructure and a review of the conditions for Vinatom to join the MBIR consortium, Rosatom said. Vietnamese specialists would be able to take part in experiments at the reactor, which is under construction in Dimitrovgrad, Russia.
MBIR is a multipurpose fast-neutron research reactor cooled by liquid sodium with a thermal capacity of about 150 MW, according to the BBC report. China and Uzbekistan are full members of the consortium, it said.
Tran Chi Thanh, president of Vinatom, called the agreement a strategic step for cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and said both sides wanted long-term joint research, according to the Rosatom release. Vasily Konstantinov, general director of the MBIR consortium company, said the signing confirmed both sides' readiness to cooperate.
Vietnam and Russia are also cooperating on the Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear plant, planned as Vietnam's first. The two countries signed a government-to-government agreement on March 23, 2026, during a visit to Russia by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, under which Rosatom would supply two VVER-1200 reactors with total planned capacity of about 2,400 MW.