Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom and the government of Laos signed a binding intergovernmental agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy on June 15, 2026, in Moscow, marking the most substantive formal step in a decade-long relationship and initiating the process for a preliminary feasibility study toward a Russian-designed nuclear power plant on Lao soil.
Key Facts At A Glance
- The intergovernmental agreement was signed on June 15, 2026, during an official visit to Moscow by Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone
- Signatories were Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev and Laotian Industry and Commerce Minister Malaythong Kommasith, with both prime ministers present
- Rosatom described the document as a “fundamental” instrument enabling full-scale nuclear cooperation, including power plant construction
- The first deliverable under the agreement is a preliminary feasibility study to determine optimal plant configuration, reactor type, and potential site regions
- Laos currently operates no nuclear reactor and has no civilian nuclear infrastructure; hydropower accounts for approximately 72 to 73% of installed power capacity
- Rosatom’s engagement with Laos dates to 2016; previous instruments included a 2017 roadmap and a 2025 updated roadmap, both pre-binding in nature
- Rosatom holds active nuclear agreements or advanced discussions with at least five ASEAN states: Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, and now Laos
Russia and Laos signed a formal intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy on June 15 in Moscow, the culmination of a diplomatic relationship in the nuclear sphere that dates to at least 2016 but has now crossed into legally binding territory for the first time.
The agreement was executed following talks between Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and his Lao counterpart, Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, during Siphandone’s official visit to the Russian capital. Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev and Laotian Industry and Commerce Minister Malaythong Kommasith signed the document as both prime ministers looked on, according to state news agency TASS. Rosatom characterized the instrument as a “fundamental document for the establishment of full-scale cooperation between the two countries in the nuclear sphere.”
From Roadmaps To Binding Instrument
The June 15 agreement represents a categorical upgrade from previous instruments. Rosatom and Laos first signed a memorandum of cooperation in 2016. A 2017 roadmap on peaceful nuclear cooperation followed, and in 2025 a further roadmap for 2025 to 2026 was signed during a visit to Moscow by Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith. All three prior instruments were non-binding frameworks. The June 2026 intergovernmental agreement, by contrast, creates the formal legal architecture necessary for construction project development, including host country obligations, technology transfer parameters, and financing arrangements that typically precede a build-operate-transfer or similar project structure.
The timing is consistent with Rosatom’s broader Southeast Asian push. The corporation has active intergovernmental nuclear agreements or advanced cooperative frameworks with Vietnam, Myanmar, and Thailand, and has signed institutional memoranda with the ASEAN Centre for Energy. Indonesia is separately advancing a nuclear program targeting small modular and floating reactor designs, with conversations involving multiple vendors.
Feasibility Study As Immediate Deliverable
Rosatom specified that the first concrete deliverable under the agreement will be a preliminary feasibility study to assess how a Russian-designed nuclear power plant can be integrated into Laos’ existing energy system. The study will determine the technical configuration of the plant, assess candidate regions for siting, and provide the Lao government with a structured basis for a sovereign decision on whether to proceed with nuclear energy development. According to TASS, the study will also evaluate grid integration requirements, given that Laos’ transmission infrastructure was built predominantly around hydropower export corridors rather than for large baseload nuclear inputs.
The reactor type has not been formally specified in public documents released at the time of the June 15 signing. Rosatom has previously expressed openness to small modular reactor formats for Laos, with Rosatom Director General Likhachev noting in a late 2025 interview that Vientiane had shown particular interest in small nuclear power plants alongside non-energy applications such as nuclear medicine and agricultural irradiation. However, Rosatom’s previous public statements from 2015 referenced two 1,000 MWe reactors of the VVER type for possible construction in Laos, with power exports to Singapore envisaged at that time.
LAOS’ ENERGY CONTEXT: Hydropower Dependence And Diversification Pressure
Laos earns its regional designation as the “Battery of Southeast Asia” primarily through hydropower exports. Large hydropower accounted for approximately 72.7% of installed capacity in 2025 and 71.5% of annual generation, according to GlobalData analysis. Total installed capacity reached 12.3 GW by 2025, up from 9.4 GW in 2020. Laos exports electricity to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Singapore, with hydropower underpinning the majority of export revenue.
That dominance also constitutes a structural vulnerability. Approximately 80% of generation being derived from hydropower leaves the system materially exposed to rainfall variability and seasonal drought. Dry-season shortfalls have repeatedly required Laos to import power or draw on coal capacity, and the country’s 1.9 GW of installed coal-fired generation is projected to nearly double to 3.7 GW by 2035 without significant diversification, according to water power industry forecasts.
Nuclear, in Laos’ framing, would serve as a firm, non-weather-dependent baseload complement to hydro seasonal output, potentially reducing import dependency during dry months and creating an additional export product in a regional electricity market that increasingly values dispatchable low-carbon power.
Rosatom’s ASEAN Positioning
The Laos agreement arrives as Rosatom intensifies its presence across Southeast Asia in competition with Western, South Korean, Chinese, and Japanese nuclear vendors. Vietnam’s Ninh Thuan 1 project is the most advanced in the region, with PECC2, a Vietnamese power engineering company, signing an agreement with Rosatom in September 2025 to update the feasibility study for the plant. Myanmar signed an intergovernmental agreement with Russia in February 2023 for a 55 MWe RITM-200 small modular reactor. Thailand’s Electricity Generating Authority (EGAT) is pursuing a 600 MW SMR target by 2037 under the national power development plan, with both Korean and US 123 agreements in place and multiple vendor discussions underway.
Malaysia launched a formal assessment of nuclear’s role in its energy mix in August 2025, with a feasibility study focusing on Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah. At the ASEAN Energy Business Forum in Kuala Lumpur in October 2025, Rosatom and the ASEAN Centre for Energy signed a memorandum of understanding covering nuclear technology awareness, scientific and human resource development, and research cooperation.
The Laos agreement therefore extends Rosatom’s Southeast Asian network to a sixth country at various stages of engagement, reinforcing the corporation’s strategy of establishing early cooperative frameworks that position it as the default counterpart when sovereign nuclear decisions mature.