Vietnam to Join International Consortium for Russia's MBIR Fast Neutron Research Reactor

On September 9, the press service of Rosatom announced that Vietnam will join the international consortium for Russia's MBIR multi-purpose fast neutron research reactor. The reactor is currently under construction in Dimitrovgrad, Russia.

Under the arrangement, the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (Vinatom) has been designated as Vietnam's lead organization for participation in the International Research Centre MBIR (IRC MBIR) project based on the MBIR reactor.

Tran Chi Thanh, President of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute, stated in a declaration that participation in the project will give Vietnam more direct access to this unique experimental platform, further expanding its scientific research capabilities; this is also a strategic move to enhance the capacity of Vietnamese physicists and nuclear engineers in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Vietnam looks forward to establishing long-term technical cooperation through this initiative.

The Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute is Vietnam's main state-owned scientific research institution. MBIR is a sodium-cooled multi-purpose fast neutron research reactor with a thermal power of 150 MW. The project team states that once completed, MBIR will become one of the world's most powerful research reactors.

The International Research Centre based on the MBIR reactor operates in the form of an international consortium. The consortium has already admitted members including the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and China's Shanghai Sino-Danish International Company.