During his visit to Vietnam in mid-October, Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation Thomas Countryman stated that the US was willing to help Vietnam in its nuclear energy program, whether or not Vietnam buys US technology. 

Countryman emphasized the necessity of setting up a committee independent to the government and other organizations which will be in charge of controlling the safety of nuclear power plants and ensure they can operate in an effective and transparent way.

The statement has caught the special attention of scientists, who think the statement implies that the US would help Vietnam control the safety of nuclear power plants.

Dr. Nguyen Mong Sinh, former deputy head of the Da Lat Nuclear Research Institute, said if troubles occurred, dangers would spread to different countries.

Therefore, it is impossible to develop nuclear power just within the countries’ border and keep nuclear technology secret.  Any country which plans to develop nuclear power needs to learn from the experiences from other countries.

The US knows that Vietnam is considering building the first nuclear power plant and it has discussed Russian support for the project. However, the US has reasons to show its interest in the matter.

The US began giving assistance to Vietnam in many different fields, even before Vietnam set to build its first nuclear power plant. 

The US once cooperated with Russia, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Vietnam in a mutual agreement on converting fuel rods at the Da Lat nuclear reactor from high enriched to low enriched. This aims to ensure the operation safety.

“I believe that the US has reasonable approach in the issue and Vietnam needs to take full advantage of the other countries, not only the US, but the other countries ahead of Vietnam in nuclear power development as well,” Sinh said.

Regarding the US suggestion that Vietnam should establish an independent committee in charge of supervising nuclear power plants, an analyst said it was reasonable. The US believes that nuclear power plants run with complicated technologies need supervision by objective bodies.

A comprehensive cooperation agreement between Vietnam and the US was signed on consultancy capability, research and development, and training and services in the nuclear energy field in late October 2014. Prior to that, the 123 Agreement on the US-Vietnam civil nuclear cooperation took effect on October 3

Dat Viet