‘Hundreds of officials went to school to make Ninh Thuan nuclear power’

Ninh Thuan nuclear power project has been pause according to the decision in Resolution 31, 2016 of the National Assembly. However, last month, the National Assembly’s Economic Committee proposed to consider nuclear power development.

Looking back at the previous preparation process, Dr. Tran Chi Thanh, director of the Vietnam Institute of Atomic Energy (Vinatom), Ministry of Science and Technology, said that from 1996 to 2002 some of the first studies on the introduction of nuclear energy were carried out. Nuclear power into Vietnam, including considering the selection of a number of locations, has already been deployed. When the National Assembly approved the policy of building a nuclear power plant in Ninh Thuan (2009), the preparations were more urgent, in which the highlight was the pre-feasibility study project (Pre-FS).

A year later, Vietnam signed an agreement with Russia and Japan on the construction of Ninh Thuan 1 and Ninh Thuan 2 plants. By 2011, the feasibility study (FS) project including the site assessment began. implement and assign to the Project Management Board, Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) is the direct implementation unit. The pre-feasibility study report is completed after 2 years and submitted to EVN.

Mr. Thanh said that in order to ensure the operation of a nuclear power plant, a large number of human resources are needed, from hundreds of people, from university, college to high school… Officials to operate the plant. Nuclear power is trained by the investor (EVN).

In this project, Vinatom is responsible for preparing a team of technical experts (research on nuclear power technology and safety to understand relevant scientific and technical issues). Over the past 10 years, nearly 100 people have been sent by the Institute to study masters and doctoral studies abroad through scholarship applications, to the Russian Federation, Japan, Korea, Europe and the United States. “Currently, some cadres who have completed their doctorate are still staying to do post-doctoral work (PostDoc) in other countries, because the nuclear power program in the country is temporarily suspended,” said Dr. Thanh, adding that in countries such as South Korea, Japan desperately needs staff on nuclear power.

In addition to this group, there are about 450 students and engineers studying in Russia and Japan under the training program of the Ministry of Education and Training, specialized training of EVN, including university training in nuclear power. , improve qualifications, train key staff on technology and safety of nuclear power plants…

Technology selection

In the years 2013-2014, the story of which technology to choose for Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant was discussed and exchanged by Vinatom many times with Russia and Japan. The exchanges mainly discussed which technology to choose for Ninh Thuan 1 and Ninh Thuan 2 nuclear power plants through conferences and seminars continuously over the years 2012-2016.

Currently, the world is focusing on 2 main technologies: light water (LWR) or advanced heavy water generation III+, and SMR technology (which is a small capacity furnace under 300 MWe), with light water cooling technology. such as NuScale), high temperature gas cooled and liquid metal cooled. However, SMR is a new technology and has not been commercially deployed (according to the world’s leading nuclear experts, it takes 20-30 years for commercial deployment and verification).

“We have proposed the advanced Russian furnace, AES2006/V491 for Ninh Thuan 1 project and Westinghouse (USA) AP1000 with 1000 MWe capacity for Ninh Thuan 2 project, which are new designs that ensure many standards. on post-Fukushima safety,” said Dr. Thanh. Generation III+ LWR technology is being applied at 51 reactors in new nuclear power plants currently under construction around the world.

Mr. Thanh explained, generation III+ light water furnace is the latest technology, formed from previous experience, enhancing the ability to ensure safety, prevent the progression of incidents if abnormal problems occur. happen. Increased safety systems, active safety combined with passive safety, can ensure safety even in the event of power supply failure, more redundancy systems are installed in new designs .

He said that the Vietnamese project carried out during that period needed to meet the post-Fukushima safety requirements, in which the major incident part should be taken care of and considered in the selected furnace design. The set of technology selection criteria for Ninh Thuan 1 and Ninh Thuan 2 nuclear power projects were then developed by Vinatom and EVN.

After unification with Russia, in 2014 documents on technology of generation III+ LWR furnaces (Ninh Thuan 1 project) were prepared, translated into Vietnamese, and EVN transferred to the Department of Nuclear Radiation Safety (Ministry of Science and Technology). Science and Technology) for appraisal.

By 2016, EVN and Vinatom had also prepared many unified plans, but the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project was halted. “All preparatory work has also stopped,” said Mr. Thanh, and said that even so, during the past 6 years, the Institute has still researched technology and safety, sent staff to study abroad and invited the world’s leading experts. world to exchange knowledge about nuclear power and improve capacity.

Out of more than 400 students and engineers sent to study nuclear power, about 60-70 people complete the training every year and return home. “They go to work for EVN but switch to work in thermal power, hydroelectricity and power management projects. Vinatom also invites newly graduated engineers in Russia, but the research salary is low, so each year only A few officials returned to work,” said Dr. Thanh.

He also said that Vinatom currently maintains international cooperation with countries such as Russia, Japan and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on nuclear technology and safety through nuclear safety research projects. , exchange of experts, design nuclear research reactor. The project to build a nuclear science and technology research center in Dong Nai, including the construction of a new research nuclear reactor, is also being implemented.

“We continue to pursue research, prepare human resources to be ready for the team of experts for nuclear power,” he said, adding that many PhD students who studied abroad have stayed abroad, but when need them ready to return.

Nhu Quynh