Nuclear power technology is developing and Vietnam must be updated continuously with new technology, especially in the field of waste treatment and material reuse, said Brett Jacobs, the Southeast Asia Programs Manager under the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s Directorate of Global Energy Dialogue, at a meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Huu Hao.

Regarding Vietnam’s energy development policies, Deputy Minister Do Huu Hao said that Vietnam has a long-term plan to develop nuclear power, under which nuclear power will account for 25-30 percent of the total production output of electricity in Vietnam in the future.

Vietnam is expediting a project to build the first complex of nuclear power plants in Vietnam with total capacity of 4,000MW. The first turbine will come into operation to produce commercial electricity by 2020.

Brett Jacobs emphasized, “When designing its first nuclear power plant, Vietnam must give top priority to ensuring safety.”

He said that Vietnam should develop renewable energy and especially apply low emission technologies. “IEA is willing to help Vietnam consider some policies and develop these energy resources.”

Deputy Minister Do Huu Hao said that Vietnam has the potential to develop biomass energy but it does not yet utilize this type of energy to generate power and just uses it for cooking purposes. Recently, Vietnam planned to cooperate with Germany to develop wind power and biomass power. However, the price of wind power is rather high compared with electricity that is obtained from other sources.

“Thus far we have made no plan to develop wind power and biomass power but we will do this in the future.” - said the deputy minister.

By Thuy Hang