Vietnam to invest VND3T in nuclear power personnel training by 2020

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a project to invest VND3 trillion ($154 million) to train manpower for the nuclear power industry by 2020.

Under the project, the country targets to train 2,400 engineers, 350 PhDs and MAs of nuclear power as well as 650 engineers, 250 PhDs and MAs of nuclear power management, application and security during the period, the government said on its website Aug 21.

To realize the target, the nation plans to invest in upgrading university infrastructure by 2015 with an initial focus on five universities namely University of Natural Sciences under the National University in Hanoi, University of Natural Sciences under the National University in Ho Chi Minh City, the Hanoi University of Technology, Dalat University, Electric Power University, and Nuclear Training Center at Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission (VAEC) under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The Ministry of Education and Training said the Southeast Asian country had 505 university graduates of nuclear power in 2008, including 62 PhDs with an average age of 50, 12 Profs and Assoc Profs with four aged between 60 and 62, and the rest aged between 50 and 55.

Only five aforementioned universities in Vietnam have provided training in nuclear power, the ministry attributed.

Last November, Vietnam’s National Assembly, the country’s highest legislative body, approved construction of first two nuclear power plants with a combined capacity of 4,000 MW in Ninh Thuan province. The country plans to start building the 2,000-MW Ninh Thuan 1 in 2014 with expected operation in 2020.

It is estimated to need between 6,000 and 10,000 workers for construction of the first two nuclear power plants and to need more than 1,000 highly trained staff to manage and run the nuclear power plants once they are operational.

Tags: Vietnam energy, Vietnam nuclear power project