NEI Nuclear Notes

Vietnam is making determined steps toward joining the nuclear family: The Vietnam Nuclear Energy Institute and the US’ Westinghouse Power Company last week introduced AP 1000 nuclear power technology at a workshop in Hanoi. The Vietnamese are starting almost from scratch, but are moving faster than looking at a presentation might indicate: Faced with threats of power shortages and the increasing prices of coal and oil, the Vietnamese government agreed to speed up and double the scale of the first nuclear power plant project in Ninh Thuan province from 2,000 to 4,000 MW. Here is Director of VNEI Vuong Huu Tan on the schedule : If the investment report is approved by the National Assembly this May, we will make the investment project. This process may take two years. After that we will seek international tenders or choose contractors to ensure that the construction will start in 2015. The government plans to put the first turbine into operation in 2020 and we will ...