Plans are moving forward for Vietnam’s first nuclear power plant. Dr. Le Van Hong, Vice Chief of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute, talked about this project.

A nuclear power plant in France (photo: Reuters).

TNO: What can you tell us about preparations for the first nuclear power plant in Vietnam?

Dr. Le Van Hong: We’ve been working on this project for a long time.

In 2002, the Ministry of Industry and Trade asked the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to develop an investment report for the first nuclear power plant in Vietnam. The government then decided to implement this project at two sites in the southeastern province of Binh Phuoc.

EVN’s investment report covered all related issues, such as the necessity of nuclear power, the role of nuclear power in the country’s energy supply-demand balance, nuclear safety, human resources for nuclear technology and the environmental impact.

In late 2008, the Government set up the State Appraisal Council for the nuclear power project. Based on the opinions of the State Appraisal Council and two other groups of experts, EVN completed its investment report.

The National Assembly will consider this report in its October session. After the National Assembly approves the report, the government will instruct the Ministry of Industry and Trade to establish the detailed project.

It will take five or six years to build the nuclear plant. If the project goes smoothly, the first 1,000MW turbine will be put into operation in 2020.

What is the biggest difficulty for this project?

Hong:The largest obstacle is the shortage of qualified experts. The Ministry of Education and Training has finalized a draft project to train personnel for the nuclear power industry. This draft scheme will be submitted to the government for consideration and approval at year’s end.

The Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute has sent staff overseas for training. In the initial phase, the first nuclear power plant will be mainly operated by foreign experts. Vietnamese staff will learn from foreign experts and gradually take over this task.

How about the safety for the nuclear power plant?

Hong: Nuclear power plants typically have five layers of protection. If an incident happens in one section, other layers will help prevent its spread. The last layer will be built of reinforced-concrete, which is over 1 meter thick. If four other layers are broken, this “containment vessel” can contain the radiation for a long period of time while awaiting experts.

I can say that the nuclear power plant is very safe so local people can rest easy. In France, nuclear power plants satisfy up to 80 percent of the country’s baseload demand for power. It is 40 percent in Japan.

VietNamNet/TNO