The deal was signed by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in October 2013 on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Brunei. It was later approved by President Barack Obama in February 2014, and is currently awaiting final Senate approval.
In response to the aforementioned agreement, activists against nuclear weapon proliferation and some US lawmakers expressed concern that the pact does not ban Vietnam from enriching uranium or recycling plutonium- capacities that could be used to develop nuclear weapons.
To reassure naysayers, Vietnam signed a non-legally binding memorandum of understanding with the US, pointing out that Hanoi has no intention of seeking those capabilities.
The Vietnam-US civilian nuclear cooperation agreement also known as the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement 123, will allow American firms to penetrate Vietnam’s expanding market for nuclear power development.
According to the US Department of Commerce (DOC), the pact will help Vietnam open its doors for US companies to increase nuclear exports by US$10-20 billion, and generate more than 50,000 new jobs for American workers with high salaries.
The Vietnamese nuclear power market currently ranks second in East Asia second only to China, and is estimated to reach US$50 billion in revenue in the next two decades.
Nuclear energy is a plan that Vietnam is pursuing in order to deal with the current energy shortage and meet 10% of domestic electricity demand by 2030.
Russia and Japan have also reached nuclear cooperation agreements with Vietnam.
