Intensive preparations were in the pipeline for construction on the Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant to start in 2014, said Electricity of Vietnam’s (EVN) head of the nuclear power preparation committee Phan Minh Tuan.

How is the progress of Ninh Thuan 1 and 2 nuclear power projects?

Preparations for Ninh Thuan 1 and 2 projects are now underway. Both projects are in the stage of finding strategic partners and drawing feasibility studies.

As estimated, it needs between 18 to 24 months to finalise feasibility studies.

The Vietnamese government is intensifying efforts to embrace preparatory activities for key nuclear power plant right in the first half of 2011 to be able to commence construction of Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant in 2014.

Is it necessary to have in place an inter-governmental agreement relevant to Russia-Vietnam cooperation in handling nuclear power projects before conducting projects’ feasibility studies?

In fact, most cooperative projects between Vietnam and Russia are within the inter-governmental agreement framework. With other foreign partners, such agreements may not necessarily be in place, but the two sides engage in discussing ways to materialise cooperative projects in an appropriate manner.

Would you describe the progress of the Ninh Thuan 2 nuclear power project in cooperation with Japan?

The project is in the legal set-up stage. It is expected that work relevant to the project’s feasibility studies will be launched right in the first half of 2011.

It seems that the two projects are competing strongly with each other in terms of progress?

At the Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power project, efforts are made to find consultants for establishing its feasibility studies. As scheduled, Ninh Thuan 2 nuclear power project will begin construction from six months to one year later after construction of Ninh Thuan 1 project kicks-off which is slated in 2014 according to National Assembly resolution.

How is EVN going with preparations for both Ninh Thuan 1 and 2?

As trusted by the Vietnamese government, EVN is finalising procedures to choose consultants for drawing Ninh Thuan 1 project’s feasibility studies. EVN is also negotiating with partners at state-level agreements, including those relevant to project financial sources. We are also involved with project infrastructure preparations though joining hands with local governments on people’s relocation.

Are there any changes to projects’ investment costs compared to former calculations?

There are a lot of changes in pricing schemes in both domestic and world market, so that we still do not have official figures about this. Besides, a bunch of factors involve project pricing such as construction site and lending conditions. These all factors will appear in the feasibility studies. Thereby, we will have concrete pricing figures as soon as project feasibility studies are available.

The Ninh Thuan’s first turbines will be commissioned by 2020. How EVN has prepared for the future plant’s human resources?

EVN has worked on the matter for years and we have sent selective students abroad who will be trained in nuclear power. Recently, Russia has actively supported us in training students in this field. As the developer of two Ninh Thuan nuclear power projects EVN is doing its utmost to ensure their smooth implementation.

Source: VIR