Nuclear projects all set to gather pace

Phan Minh Tuan, director of Electricity of Vietnam’s (EVN) Nuclear Power  Pre-Investment Board, said it was selecting advisors to make feasibility studies for the Ninh Thuan 1 project.

A feasibility study for the Ninh Thuan 2 project would be made this year.

“All the preparation work related to the nuclear power plants will be started in the first half of this year to ensure construction is started by 2014,” said Tuan.

Last year, the Vietnamese government picked Russia’s Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation to build the Ninh Thuan 1 plant and gave the nod to Japan’s International Nuclear Energy Development Corporation of Japan to build Ninh Thuan 2.

If the feasibility study process went well, Tuan said, the construction of Ninh Thuan 2 could start in 2014, too.

The government plans to put Ninh Thuan 1 into operation by 2020 and Ninh Thuan 2 a year later.

Vietnam’s first nuclear power projects will address crippling  electricity shortages in the country, with each plant having two, 2,000 megawatt reactors.

According to the Decision 906/QD-TTg released last year by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung regarding nuclear power development till 2030, Vietnam will build 14 nuclear power reactors with total capacity of around 15,000-16,000MW, accounting 10 per cent of the country’s total electricity capacity.

The nuclear power plants will be built at eight locations in central Ninh Thuan, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Quang Ngai and Ha Tinh provinces.

The National Assembly has already approved the Nuclear Power Law to allow the government to develop nuclear power plants. Meanwhile, other necessary legal documents regarding investment procedures and safety regulations were also being prepared.

Nuclear regulatory body and technical support organisations such as Nuclear Safety Centre and Environmental Radioactivity Monitoring centre have been established.