AEA to Help Vietnam Develop Nuclear Power for Peaceful Purposes

Vietnam hopes to receive more short- and long-term technical assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) through co-operation projects to help the country develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

 

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan made this statement while receiving Kwaku Aning, Deputy General Director of the IAEA and Head of the Department of Technical Co-operation, on his working visit to Hanoi on August 20.

 

The Deputy PM asked the IAEA to help Vietnam implement five technical co-operation projects, particularly those for developing nuclear power, and continue to support eight similar projects during the 2014-2015 period.

 

Vietnam is also seeking IAEA support in training human resources in this field and establishing a nuclear science and technology centre with a multipurpose research reactor.

 

Deputy Director Kwaku Aning said he was impressed by Vietnam’s socio-economic development in the past years, saying that following the General Director’s official visit to Hanoi in September 2011, Vietnam was chosen as an exemplary country to IAEA technical assistance for developing nuclear power plants.

 

Over the past ten years, the IAEA has provided US$7.2 million through technical co-operation projects to help the Da Lat Nuclear Research Institute build labs, upgrade the Da Lat reactor and develop human resources for future nuclear power programmes.

 

The IAEA has also supported Vietnam in many other nuclear projects related to agriculture, industry, health care, and radiation technology.

 

Three Deputy General Directors of this UN body have visited Vietnam since the beginning of 2012, indicating they are paying special attention to nuclear energy in the country for peaceful purposes.