VietNamNet Bridge – Government officials have reassured the public that the most advanced latest technology would be chosen for the nuke power plants in Vietnam, while affirming that new safety standards would be set up in the post-Fukushima period.

The press briefing held on October 24 in Vietnam was introduced as the meeting to introduce the 2012 nuclear power exhibition to be inaugurated the next day.

However, the questions raised by the reporters at the press briefing did not relate to the exhibition. The biggest matter of interest of the participants was the safety of the nuke power plants to be built in Vietnam.

After the Fukushima accident in March 2011, some big countries in the world, including Germany and Switzerland, are considering shut a part or the whole nuclear power plans. This has once again, triggered the big worries about the safety of the nuke plants in Vietnam.

However, Vuong Huu Tan, Head of the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety VARANS, has affirmed that the nuclear power plants still have been on the development over the last 18 months, after the Fukushima catastrophe, simply because no alternative energy source has been found.

Tan said that after the Fukushima catastrophe, IAEA has launched an action program to improve the safety of nuclear power plants. Tan has affirmed that when building up the legal framework for nuclear energy in Vietnam, competent agencies would set up new standards and requirements to ensure the safety of nuke plants.

Tran Tri Thanh, Head of the Vietnam Atomic Institute VINATOM, said that the most important thing for Vietnam to do is to choose technologies for the plants.

“We will choose the most advanced technologies for Vietnam’s nuclear power plants,” Thanh said.

Also according to Thanh, the technology and design of the next-generation nuclear reactors are very safe, and that in case of risk, the radiation will not leak into the environment.

However, Thanh’s affirmation has not eased the public concern, because the safety of the plants would still depend on the labor force.

The experts have also admitted that preparing the labor force for nuke power plants is the biggest challenge for Vietnam.

According to Tan, Vietnam has been intensively implementing the plan on developing the labor force in the atomic energy which was approved by the government in August 2010.

Under the plan, by 2020, when Vietnam begins operating the first nuke plant, there would be 2200 engineers in the field. These include 200 engineers fishing foreign schools, 350 masters and doctors. Especially, 150 of them will be trained in the countries with developed nuke power industry.

Universities have been gearing up in preparing the infrastructure system that serves the training. The agencies belonging to the Ministry of Science and Technology is also drawing up the training plan. In 2012, Vietnam plans to send engineers abroad for training.

Phan Minh Tuan, Deputy Head of the Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Plant project’s board of management, while stressing that the qualified workforce would decide the success of the power plant projects, has called on relevant ministries to soon make public the preferences to be offered to the personnel in the industry. He said the personnel need to see the bright job prospects so that they devote themselves to the nuclear power industry.

In 2012, the Da Lat University offers the scholarship of one million dong a month and seats at dorms when enrolling students for the nuclear power major. However, the school could enroll 17 students only, while it planned to enroll 50.

Le Van