Rosatom Group Deputy Director highly rates Vietnam’s atomic enegry industry
08:19 | 02/04/2014
Mr. Vyacheslav A. Pershukov, Deputy Director General - Director of Directorate for Scientific and Technical Complex of Russian Atomic Energy Cooperation (Rosatom).
What is your assessment of Vietnam’s fledgling nuclear power industry?
I highly rate the qualifications of Vietnamese specialists in the field and the important role of the Da Lat Nuclear Research Institute in the sector’s human resources training. Vietnam is one of the first countries in the region to begin nuclear energy and is preparing to construct its first nuclear power plant with the efforts of the Da Lat Nuclear Research Institute and 500 qualified specialists and staff members who have been working at the reactor since it was restored.
How will Rosatom assist Vietnam in atomic energy industry development?
The new reactor feasibility project is aimed at creating a scientific and technological center as a foundation for the development of nuclear technologies in Vietnam. The project will construct a 15MW nuclear reactor in the city of Da Lat (with a capacity 30 times the existing reactor’s capacity) that makes possible the production of radioactive substances for research purposes and radiation experiment and research laboratories, and a computer-based technological theory research center in Hanoi that will consider safety criteria and simulate the reactor’s physical processes and testing results in Da Lat. The project has an estimated investment capital of US$500 million. We will provide the investment in the form of a long-term, low-interest rate official development assistance (ODA) to ensure that the project can go into effective operation.
Rosatom has been assisting Vietnam in human resources training and nuclear power plant operation. In 2013, more than 230 Vietnamese students were trained in nuclear technology in Russian research institutes and universities, while 51 specialists accomplished their apprenticeship at Rostov Nuclear Power Plant’s Power Unit 3 and 4 construction sites. Apart from technical experience, technical training covers skills to work with technical documents, being master of safety technology and acknowledgement of Russian quality standards in plant operation. In January 2014, a group of Vietnamese apprentices and 100 specialists were present at the Rostov plant to begin a one-year in-service training.
Why will the new nuclear reactor be located in Da Lat and not a key industrial center?
The project is expected to begin construction in 2015 and be put into operation by 2020. During the survey we realized that although the new reactor has a capacity 30 times that of the old one, it and the old reactor have the same physical and operational principles. Da Lat has had experienced specialists in the field so construction of the new reactor in the city is favorable for the reactor’s management, use and exploitation. The research center is a project necessary for Vietnam to become a country not only developing nuclear power plants but also possessing qualified specialists capable of operating similar facilities.
Source: VEN
