Myanmar Regime and Russia Sign Nuclear Power Plant Memorandum

By Hein Htoo Zan 23 November 2022

Myanmar’s junta signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Tuesday with Rosatom, Russia’s state-run nuclear corporation, according to a Rosatom press release.

The military regime’s Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE) and Rosatom signed the MOU on Tuesday on the sidelines of the ATOMEXPO-2022 in Sochi, Russia. The proposed nuclear power plants will be based on Russian small modular reactor technology,

“The MOU fixes the next steps for Russian-Myanmar cooperation in the framework of small modular reactor project implementation in Myanmar,” Rosatom said in a press release.

A delegation led by the junta’s Minister for Electricity and Energy and the Minister for Science and Technology arrived in Sochi on Monday to attend the XII International Forum ATOMEXPO 2022.

The delegation met with Rosatom’s head Alexey Likhachev and discussed the technologies related to hydropower, wind turbines, small modular reactor nuclear power plants and the required capacity-building programmes. Rosatom’s head and the delegation also signed a non-disclosure agreement, according to junta-controlled media.

In the last week, junta delegations have also attended Transport Week and other international forums in the Russian capital Moscow.

On Friday, the junta’s science and technology minister, Dr Myo Thein Kyaw, signed a deal with Rosatom at the nuclear center in St Petersburg to establish a similar institution in Yangon.

Regime chief Min Aung Hlaing has strengthened ties with Russia since his coup in February 2021. In September, the junta signed a road map for atomic energy cooperation with Rosatom, including the small modular reactor project.