Vietnam to Approve Nuclear Energy Law This Month

Text of report in English by Vietnamese news agency VNA website

Hanoi (VNA) -A law on nuclear energy is expected to be approved by the National Assembly this month, paving the way for the country’s first nuclear power plant.

An investment report and procedures to build the plant in southern Ninh Thuan province would be completed and given the all clear by the NA next year, deputy director of the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), Nguyen Manh Hung said.

The plant will have four turbines with a combined capacity of 4,000 MW worth 6 billion USD.

If the law was approved, the country would be able to start taking measures to ensure nuclear security, head of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission, Vuong Huu Tan said.

As planned, construction of the first plant would kick off by 2015, the first turbine would come into operation by 2020 and the plant would be fully operational five years later.

Though Vietnam was facing a serious electricity shortage, the country could not speed up the project because it needed time to prepare sufficient facilities, human resources, technology and legal documents for the plant, Tan said.

Another hurdle was that Vietnam still lacked human resources for the nuclear sector because for many years, the country had not focused training on this field.

Ninh Thuan province was picked for the project because of its geology and topographical position, which was suitable for transportation of materials, Tan said. Also, the southern region had higher electricity consumption than the north, so the plant would reduce electricity losses from transmission, he added.

As the country started developing its atomic energy sector, it was necessary to have abroad of directors responsible for coordinating ministries and sectors’ activities in building the plant to ensure safety. If ministries and sectors acted separately, it would be hard to achieve the target, Tan said.

According to EVN, by 2025, nuclear power would only account for 10 per cent of the country’s total electricity output. From now to 2015, the country needed to invest in many new electricity plants with total productivity of nearly 58,500 MW. To this end, the Government asked EVN to invest in 25 plants whose total capacity could meet 57 per cent of the country’s productivity.

Currently, EVN and other enterprises are building 45 electricity plants with combined capacity of nearly 14,600 MW.

Along with power-saving measures, EVN urged organizations and individuals to boost the efficiency of electricity usage by replacing high-energy consuming and out-of-date equipment and using alternative sources such as solar energy.

Construction in the nuclear power plants is a part of the nation’s electricity development plan between 2006 and 2025, approved by the Prime Minister.

Originally published by VNA news agency website, Hanoi, in English 5 May 08.

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