Prepare resources to appraise nuclear power projects

As a nuclear safety assessment agency, the Department of Radiation and Nuclear Safety (Ministry of Science and Technology) has made necessary preparations in terms of human resources and technical means to assess the safety of Vietnam's first nuclear power plant project.

The Department has received the reactor accident simulation equipment system (PCTRAN) sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), organized professional training courses on nuclear safety and nuclear power plant technology.

The Department's staff have participated in training courses on nuclear safety assessment, probabilistic safety analysis and assessment taught by experts from the IAEA and nuclear safety agencies of several countries. To prepare the capacity to assess safety analysis reports, the Department has cooperated with the Japanese Nuclear Safety Agency to organize training on assessing safety analysis reports for two reference nuclear reactors, the Japanese pressurized water reactor and boiling water reactor (PWR and BWR).

Currently, the Department is preparing to appraise the content of the site survey report and investment report for Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Plant 1 and 2. In the immediate future, the Department is inviting Vietnamese experts from relevant ministries and branches to participate in the professional working group, including experts in seismology, geology, meteorology, hydrology, environment and atomic energy.

For the research nuclear reactor, the Department of Radiation and Nuclear Safety has organized a nuclear safety assessment of safety measures for restarting the Da Lat research nuclear reactor after completely converting fuel rods from high enrichment to low enrichment; preparing for a safety assessment to transport highly enriched fuels to the Russian Federation...

These specific activities have helped the Department's staff gain new experience and knowledge to support the safety assessment of the Nuclear Power Plant Construction Project in Ninh Thuan.

However, compared to the actual requirements of the appraisal work for nuclear power plants, the infrastructure of equipment and human resources of the Department of Radiation and Nuclear Safety is still not commensurate. The biggest difficulty is that the number of staff doing this work is too small and they do not have much experience./.

According to (TTXVN) - VT