UPDATE: Report: Vietnam rejects nuclear power development

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BANGKOK, Nov 22 (PRIME) -- The National Assembly, Vietnam’s parliament, has voted for rejection of the nuclear power development in the country, news agency VNA reported on Tuesday.

After the vote, the parliament’s chairman and the counting commission are to sign the decision and it will come in force.

The core point of a Vietnamese nuclear power program was construction of a nuclear power plant in the Ninh Thuan Province with Russian nuclear power corporation Rosatom and Japan Atomic Power.

The Ninh Thuan-1 power plant was projected to consist of two units based on VVER reactors with a capacity of up to 1.2 gigawatts (GW) each, and Russia issued a target preferential loan for implementation of the project. The plant was planned to be complete by 2027–2028.

The Vietnamese government said in a statement that the rejection of plans for the nuclear power development will not hurt cooperation with Moscow, and Russia and Japan will be priority partners if Vietnam reneges on the decision.

Rosatom said in a statement the company understands the position of its contractor and would be ready to provide full-scale support to Vietnam if it returns to implementation of the nuclear program.

“Russia and Vietnam are connected by years of successful cooperation in the sphere of peaceful atom. A nuclear research center in the city of Da Lat will allow Vietnam to continue testing nuclear and radiation technologies with Russia’s support and to form the necessary infrastructure that will serve as a basis for development of peaceful atom in the country,” the company said.

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