Vietnam, Russia sign deal on first nuclear plant

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hBuDHXvggKmF5HoFPxYAxpGOyVJQ?docId=CNG.01424cf2cb079c1b17a7e04e29a8eb3e.61

By Anna Smolchenko (AFP) – 5 hours ago

HANOI — Russia and Vietnam on Sunday signed a deal worth an estimated 5.6 billion dollars for the energy-hungry Southeast Asian country's first nuclear power plant.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev witnessed the signing, part of an effort to boost ties with his country's former Soviet-era communist ally.

"This is a very important project," he told reporters after the ceremony.

An official with Russian state nuclear conglomerate Rosatom has told AFP the construction cost of a two-reactor plant is estimated at more than four billion euros. Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko, also in Hanoi, declined to confirm the figure.