Rosatom, the State Atomic Energy Corporation of the Russian Federation, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Lao People's Democratic Republic recently signed a nuclear energy cooperation roadmap for 2025-2026, marking a new stage in nuclear energy cooperation between the two countries. The agreement was reached during the visit of the President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Thongloun Sisoulith, to the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that this move will provide the Lao People's Democratic Republic with a "cheap and environmentally friendly energy foundation".

According to the agreement, the cooperation will focus on three major areas: firstly, promoting the construction of the first nuclear power plant in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, continuing the dual unit nuclear power plant plan proposed in 2015; The second is to expand the application of nuclear technology in non energy fields such as healthcare and agriculture; The third is to strengthen the training of nuclear energy professionals. The State Atomic Energy Corporation of the Russian Federation will lead the feasibility study and technical scheme development of the project.

This cooperation is a deepening development of nuclear energy cooperation between the two countries. As early as 2016, the two sides signed the first Memorandum of Understanding on the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy and formulated the first roadmap in September 2017. Alexei Likhachev, the General Manager of the State Atomic Energy Corporation of the Russian Federation, stated in May 2025 that he would accelerate overseas expansion, with the Lao People's Democratic Republic listed as a key target.

In terms of specific cooperation projects, the construction of the nuclear power plant will adopt VVER technology from the Russian Federation and consider small modular reactors (SMRs) to adapt to the scale of the power grid in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Non energy applications include technical cooperation in the production of medical radioactive isotopes and irradiation preservation of agricultural products. In terms of talent cultivation, universities such as the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in the Russian Federation will collaborate with the National University of Laos to offer nuclear energy courses.

Expert analysis indicates that this cooperation has significant strategic importance. For the State Atomic Energy Corporation of the Russian Federation, this is an important step in expanding its Southeast Asian market, with its overseas contract portfolio reaching $200 billion (2024 data). For the Lao People's Democratic Republic, on the basis of existing China Laos railway and other cooperation projects with China, the introduction of nuclear energy cooperation from the Russian Federation is conducive to the diversification of energy supply.

However, the construction of nuclear power plants in the Lao People's Democratic Republic still faces many challenges. Large nuclear power plants have strict requirements for geological conditions, cooling water sources, and other supporting infrastructure such as a complete power system. The industry expects that the 2025-2026 roadmap will mainly focus on preliminary work such as site selection research and feasibility studies, in order to prepare technical reserves for future implementation. The application for technical assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency may also be put on the agenda. (This article is from the official website of Jian Dao www.seetao.com. Reproduction without permission is prohibited, otherwise it will be prosecuted. Please indicate Jian Dao website+original link when reprinting.) Jian Dao website new energy column editor/Yang Beihua