At just 19, Nguyen Nguyen Phong became one of the youngest lecturers at Hanoi Polytechnic University. Fifteen years later, he joined a secret research team racing to understand and neutralize US magnetic mines during the Vietnam War.
In 1957, after graduating with a degree in physics from a teacher training college, Nguyen Nguyen Phong joined Hanoi Polytechnic University, now Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST), at the age of 19.
He would spend nearly four decades at the university, becoming part of its first generation of physics lecturers.
During the early years of his career, Phong had opportunities to engage with advanced scientific research through overseas study and training.
From 1961 to 1963, he undertook research training in the Soviet Union. Between 1966 and 1970, he worked as a scientific researcher at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, one of the world's leading nuclear physics research centers at the time.
After returning to Vietnam in 1970, he helped establish the Nuclear Engineering Department at Hanoi Polytechnic University.
Professor Nguyen Nguyen Phong, a former lecturer at Hanoi University of Science and Technology. Photo: Pham Hai.
In 1972, the United States imposed a naval blockade on Hai Phong Port and several strategically important river mouths and coastal waterways in northern Vietnam, deploying magnetic naval mines and magnetic bombs.
In response, Minister of Transport Phan Trong Tue and Minister of Universities and Professional Secondary Education Ta Quang Buu mobilized scientists and intellectuals to develop ways to counter these technologically advanced weapons.
In late May 1972, a special research team known as GK1 was established at Hanoi Polytechnic University under the leadership of Professor Vu Dinh Cu.
The group brought together specialists in physics, radio electronics and automation, including Professor Nguyen Nguyen Phong and Associate Professor Nguyen Xuan Chanh.
"The codename GK1 was chosen to keep the mission secret. 'G' stood for Transport, while 'K' referred to Polytechnic University," Phong recalled.
"Our task was to understand how magnetic naval mines and magnetic bombs worked and then find ways to develop effective equipment to detect and neutralize them."
Before GK1 was established, bomb disposal teams had already cleared numerous bombs and naval mines, but they still lacked a thorough understanding of how the weapons functioned.
To reduce casualties, the scientists needed to determine how the devices detected targets and triggered explosions.
"My comrades were clearing magnetic bombs. One day, we could still be sitting together discussing our work, and the next day, someone might have been killed. Sometimes all that could be recovered were two teeth," Phong recalled. "How could we possibly sit still in a situation like that?"
The team's first six members carried out their mission under wartime conditions, receiving exceptional support from Minister Ta Quang Buu.
According to Phong, the minister authorized the researchers to use equipment from any university if it was necessary for their work.
Even with that support, the scientists faced severe shortages of resources and equipment.
"There were times when we went three consecutive nights without sleep. We worked with absolute seriousness because we knew that people's lives depended on what we were doing," Phong said. "Whenever there was something we didn't understand, we investigated it until we got to the bottom of it."
He recalled that the team sometimes joked about the enormous technological gap between the two sides.
"We often said it was a battle of minds, a contest of science and technology, but the research conditions on the two sides were vastly different."
Despite those difficulties, the researchers pressed ahead.
After three months of intensive work, GK1 had developed a fundamental understanding of the operating mechanisms of magnetic naval mines and magnetic bombs.
To find ways to neutralize the weapons, the team examined bombs and mines transported from Hai Phong to Hanoi, studied their detonation mechanisms and conducted experiments in Hai Phong and on the football field at Hanoi Polytechnic University.
Based on their findings, the scientists designed and developed several types of specialized equipment.
These included devices capable of generating magnetic pulses to trigger explosions remotely, interference equipment designed to disable the triggering mechanisms of magnetic bombs, and unmanned motorboats for mine clearance operations.
The equipment was quickly put into use and proved effective in clearing magnetic bombs and mines, helping prevent casualties at Hai Phong Port.
The remains of a US magnetic bomb. Photo: Pham Hai.
The research also contributed to efforts to overcome the US blockade of northern Vietnam during 1972 and 1973.
In 1996, the project received the Ho Chi Minh Prize, recognizing the scientists' contributions in applying scientific knowledge and technological innovation to address an urgent national challenge during wartime.
A scientist who helped build Vietnam's nuclear energy sector
Professor Nguyen Nguyen Phong's scientific career extended far beyond his work with GK1.
In 1976, when the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute was established, he was appointed its first Head of the Nuclear Reactor and Nuclear Power Department.
He was also among the first Vietnamese scientists to conduct an on-site assessment of the TRIGA-MARK II nuclear reactor in Da Lat after the facility was taken over from the military.
In 1995, following his retirement in Vietnam, Phong accepted an invitation from the Angolan government to serve as a senior expert at the country's Ministry of Science and Technology.
He also became a full professor at Agostinho Neto University, a position he held from 1995 to 2019.
During his years in the African country, he helped establish training programs in applied nuclear physics, supported projects involving the practical use of radiation technology and contributed to Angola's efforts to become a full member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Phong also personally supervised and trained doctoral researchers in nuclear physics.
Among his former students was Maria Cândida Pereira Teixeira, who later served as Angola's Minister of Science and Technology and subsequently as Minister of Education.
Another was Dr. Pedro, who went on to become Director of Angola's nuclear regulatory authority.
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