VietNamNet Bridge – American firms have urged the US Congress to ratify the Vietnam-US cooperation agreement in the nuclear sector in order to create more jobs, and Russia and Japan have signed nuclear cooperation agreements with Vietnam.

Foreign newswires report that US President Barack Obama has submitted to the US Congress the text of the nuclear cooperation agreement, under which the US would transfer nuclear reactors and technologies to Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Vietnam Plus of the Vietnam News Agency reported that the US Congress began considering a cooperation proposal on May 9. It has 90 days to consider the issue before making a final decision.

Prior to that, the Vietnamese and US representatives signed a Vietnam-US nuclear cooperation agreement in Hanoi on May 6 (Agreement 123).

Vietnamese officials and scientists have expressed their satisfaction about the agreement.

Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan said at the signing ceremony that the agreement can be seen as an open door for both the US and Vietnam to accelerate projects on nuclear energy development.

“The agreement has a very important significance for Vietnam. This is really goods news that the US and Vietnam can sign it,” Dr. Tran Huu Phat, former Head of the Atomic Energy Academy, said in Dat Viet newspaper.

“The signing allows Vietnam to approach sourced technologies in a proper way,” Phat said, explaining that most of the licenses (patents, industrial design, technology…) in the nuclear energy sector have been transferred by the US to France and Japan.

Dr. Tran Dai Phuc, the advisor to the Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant project, said the cooperation agreement would provide great opportunities to Vietnam to learn more experience from a country with advanced nuclear technology.

Vietnam would also be able to learn about legal issues from DOE (Department of Energy) and USNRC (United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission).

However, Vietnamese are not the only people who feel elated with the agreement.

Dr. Nguyen Nhi Dien, Head of the Da Lat Nuclear Research Institute, commented that if the US Congress ratifies the cooperation agreement, this would benefit both involved parties. As for Vietnam, this would bring opportunity to Vietnam to access source technology and nuclear fuel later.

The US Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and the US nuclear energy firms have unanimously urged the US Congress to ratify the agreement soon, emphasizing that the strengthened cooperation with Vietnam in the sector would help boost exports and create more jobs.

The US firms can expect to earn $10-20 billion from the deals with Vietnam.

Vietnam plans to produce 10,000 MW of nuclear electricity by 2030. It is believed to be the second largest nuclear power market in East Asia following to China, while market value is expected to reach $50 billion in the next two decades.

According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), rapid modernization in Vietnam has led to a sharp increase in the demand for electricity, estimated to increase by 10-15 percent per annum.

David Durham from GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GHE) has warned that if the US Congress does not ratify the agreement, US firms will lose the lucrative market of Vietnam.

Dat Viet