The ministry of electric power and Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy company, outlined a joint feasibility study on SMRs, in a memorandum of understanding, signed in late November.
A typical nuclear reactor has an output of around 1,000 megawatts, while the maximum output of an SMR stands at several hundred MW. Russia is considered a pioneer in that technology, ahead of the US and the UK.
The signing of the memorandum took place on the sidelines of this year’s Atomexpo international forum for the nuclear industry in Sochi, Russia. Myanmar’s electricity minister and the minister of science and technology – both military appointees – attended the forum.
Before attending Atomexpo, Myanmar’s delegation also visited nuclear plants and research facilities in Moscow and St Petersburg. In mid-November, Myanmar and Rosatom agreed to establish a nuclear technology information centre in Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital.
Whether a nuclear reactor will indeed be built in Myanmar remains to be seen. But the military appears aggressive in promoting this vision.
“We expect construction of a small-scale nuclear reactor to start within a few years,” Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson for Myanmar’s military, told reporters in September.
Senior general Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s commander-in-chief, visited Russia for a week in July and September, attending the signing of memorandums with Rosatom on both occasions.
The July agreement concerned personnel training and public awareness campaigns, while the September memorandum contained a road map toward cooperation on the civilian use of nuclear energy.
Myanmar is suffering from widespread power shortages and blackouts due to ageing hydroelectric power stations and electrical grids. This comes at a time when Min Aung Hlaing has expressed interest in putting more electric vehicles and buses on the roads, and developing an electrified rail network.
Half of Myanmar’s electricity comes from thermal plants fueled by domestically produced natural gas. The volumes from existing gas fields are on track to diminish.
France’s TotalEnergies said in July that it had exited completely from the Yadana gas field off Myanmar’s southern coast, while Australia’s Woodside Energy group has announced it is withdrawing from development plans in Myanmar. Companies from South Korea and Thailand are expected to continue gas field operations, but the current political instability caused by the military takeover of a civilian government in February 2021 has raised the risk for new investments.
Rosatom is aggressively marketing SMRs to emerging countries in Africa and Asia. In Southeast Asia, the company has also signed memorandums in Indonesia and the Philippines that would pave the way for the construction of nuclear reactors.
Vietnam scrapped plans to build nuclear power plants in 2016, but the country signed a new memorandum with Rosatom in 2019 with the goal of developing a low-output research reactor.
This is not the first time Myanmar has shown interest in nuclear power. In 2002, Myanmar and Russia reached a preliminary agreement toward building a research reactor, according to a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank. But the two sides failed to compromise on the project’s funding, and those plans were ultimately shelved.
Myanmar restored diplomatic relations with North Korea in 2007. Subsequently, Myanmar faced allegations of pursuing a nuclear weapons programme, though the military denied it.
After Myanmar transitioned to civilian rule in 2011, repairing relations with Western countries became the top priority. To those end, the country in 2016 ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, a multilateral treaty prohibiting the testing of nuclear weapons. Myanmar came out in favour of nuclear nonproliferation efforts, essentially closing the books on the country pursuing nuclear technology.
Ties between Myanmar and Russia have traditionally been limited to arms deals and military cooperation. Now, Myanmar’s military appears eager to expand the relationship into the civilian sector. The partnership would extend across nuclear power, resource development, trade, finance and tourism, among other fields.
In mid-November, Myanmar and Russia agreed to launch direct flights connecting Yangon and Siberia. In August, authorities in Myanmar established a public-private steering committee geared toward importing Russian fuel oil.
Myanmar and Russia have both faced international condemnation – Myanmar for its violent crackdown on civilians and Russia for invading Ukraine. As their international isolation deepens, the two countries found themselves supporting each other in the diplomatic sphere.
It remains unclear if the nuclear cooperation will bear fruit, but Myanmar and Russia appear – at a minimum – to be opening up more opportunities for economic cooperation.