Japan to assist Vietnam in nuclear energy

Nuclear experts meet to discuss bilateral cooperation.

Vietnamese and Japanese experts recently met in Hanoi for talks on bilateral cooperation in the use of nuclear energy for peace, security and nuclear non-proliferation.

Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Dinh Tien said his country’s modernisation and industrialisation and ongoing socio-economic development has resulted in a surge in the demand for energy. He said this increase will continue over the next decade while fossil fuel resources edge towards exhaustion.

Vietnam has decided to develop a nuclear power programme as a means of safeguarding energy security, enabling the diversification and advancement of sustainable energy.

Vietnam’s first nuclear power plant with two reactors in Ninh Thuan Province will become operational by 2020. It will have a total design capacity of around 10,700MW, some 7% of Vietnam’s total power capacity and a 10% contribution to the national grid’s electricity output.

Tien emphasized that his country will use atomic energy for peaceful purposes and will guarantee the safety and security of its reactors in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear power disaster in Japan.