HANOI, July 23. /TASS/. Specialized personnel training forms the bedrock of nuclear industry cooperation between Russia and Vietnam, Dmitry Raspopin, head of Rosatom's representative office in Vietnam, told TASS in an interview.

Between 2017 and 2025, 400 Vietnamese students graduated from Russian universities, including Rosatom’s partner schools such as MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute -TASS), Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, and Tomsk Polytechnic University. Around 30 of them majored in fields directly tied to the nuclear industry. "This is the ultimate key to success. Without qualified personnel, it is incredibly difficult to roll out projects in this field," Raspopin noted.

Russia and Vietnam share a long history of nuclear cooperation. "Our nations have been friends, comrades, and partners in nuclear energy since the 1950s and 1960s. However, comprehensive cooperation kicked off in the 1980s with the upgrade of the Dalat research reactor, where Soviet nuclear experts played a hands-on role. We modernized the Dalat facility, which now has a capacity of about 500 kW," Raspopin said. Russia also provides the country with nuclear fuel. The most recent shipment was delivered last November by TVEL, Rosatom's fuel division.

The operation of this reactor is crucial, the Rosatom representative noted, as it currently accounts for approximately 80% of radiopharmaceuticals supplied to the Vietnamese market, ensuring the country's self-sufficiency in cancer diagnostics and therapy.

Russia and Vietnam are now embarking on a new and vital milestone in their nuclear partnership: cooperation on the construction of the large-capacity Ninh Thuan-1 nuclear power plant. This initiative originally launched back in the 2010s but was later suspended by the Vietnamese side for a variety of reasons. Nevertheless, Russia, through Rosatom and its subsidiaries, has remained deeply committed to cooperating with Vietnam in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the state corporation official concluded.

Roadmap

During the official visit to Moscow by To Lam, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, on May 8-11, 2025, Russia and Vietnam adopted a cooperation roadmap for peaceful nuclear energy through 2030. The document outlines the large-scale development of Vietnam's nuclear energy sector with Rosatom's participation. The plans encompass the construction of nuclear power units, centers for nuclear science and medicine, and the training of Vietnamese specialists at specialized Russian universities.