Japanese nuclear plant offers lessons

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan admitted that Viet Nam is determined to go ahead with the building of the nuclear power plants in the central coast province of Ninh Thuan.

Nhan told the National Assembly deputies yesterday that the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant was a precious lesson for Viet Nam.

He said that since the adoption of Resolution No 41 by the National Assembly in 2009 on guidelines to build the nuclear power plant in Ninh Thuan, the Government had issued five legal documents guiding the implementation of the Law on Nuclear Power.

The Prime Minister has decided to establish the Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Project Steering Committee with a Deputy Prime Minister as the director and representatives from various ministries, sectors and Ninh Thuan province as project members.

An Inter-governmental Joint Committee on the building of the Ninh Thuan Nuclear plant No 1 between Viet Nam and the Russian Federation was signed on October 31, 2010. Preparations for the construction of the plant had been ongoing since then, including a credit agreement with Russia.

For the second nuclear plant, negotiations between Viet Nam and Japan were underway, including a credit agreement to build the plant from Japan.

The construction sites of the two plants had been approved by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

A feasibility report on the construction of the Ninh Thuan No.1 Reactor is currently being drafted.

For the second plant, the Japanese Government had agreed to provide $25 million in the form of non-refundable aid to compile project documentation.

Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) was confirmed as the project owner of the two nuclear plants.

The EVN had consulted with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the safety of the plants.

Viet Nam had also sent students and abroad to study nuclear energy in Russia, Japan, South Korea and France.

Construction on the first nuclear plant would begin in December 2014 and the first nuclear reactor would generate electricity in 2020, with the second going online the following year.

For the second nuclear plant, construction was slated for May 2015 and the first nuclear reactor would generate electricity in 2021, with the second reactor going into commission in 2022.

“Site selection for the nuclear plants and the technology have been and would thoroughly be considered, including the case of extreme weather conditions as earthquakes, tsunamis or plane crashes,” said Nhan. — VNS

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