Rosatom State Corporation has delivered nuclear fuel to Vietnam for a research reactor in the city of Da Lat, according to Rosatom's fuel division, TVEL. The products were manufactured at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (NCCP), an enterprise of Rosatom's fuel division. The supply will ensure reliable operation of the facility until the 2030s.
The reactor in Da Lat, reconstructed according to a Soviet project, has been operating since 1984 at the Institute for Nuclear Research. It was installed on the site of the American TRIGA Mark-2 reactor, first launched in 1963 and shut down during the Vietnam War.
Over 40 years of operation, the reactor has worked for more than 70,000 hours and is used for the production of radioisotopes, activation analysis, scientific research, and training of specialists. The Institute weekly supplies more than 15,000 Ci of radioactive preparations to 23 hospitals in Vietnam, providing diagnostics and treatment to about 500,000 patients per year.
The fuel supply is part of the Russian-Vietnamese roadmap for the development of nuclear technologies until 2030, signed in May 2025 by Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev and Vietnamese Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung. The document also includes the creation of a Center for Nuclear Science and Technology, Vietnam's participation in the international research center based on the MBIR reactor, and the training of national personnel for the nuclear industry.
The Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant, part of TVEL, is one of the world's leading manufacturers of nuclear fuel for power and research reactors. Its products are used in more than nine countries, including scientific centers and medical institutions.
Cooperation between Russia and Vietnam in the field of nuclear energy is also developing along the lines of large-capacity power units. In September 2025, Rosatom Overseas Generation and the Vietnamese company PECC2 signed a memorandum of cooperation on the Ninh Thuan-1 NPP project. It is planned to build a two-unit station with VVER-1200 reactors, Rosatom's flagship technology, which is already successfully operating in Russia and Belarus and is being built in a number of countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
The previous supply of Russian fuel for the Da Lat reactor was carried out in December 2010. Unlike nuclear power plants, fuel for research reactors is supplied irregularly and for a long period.