Last week, Vietnam’s ninth national conference
on nuclear power wrapped up in the south central province of Ninh Thuan with
local and international experts pointing out many factors that pose risks to
the country’s first atomic power plants scheduled to begin construction in 2014.
Human resources fall far short of the plant’s
requirements, and the legal bases for nuclear power development and maintenance
in Vietnam are woefully insufficient as well, they pointed out.
It was said that up to 1,000 people, plus a
team of experts with over 30 years’ experience, would be needed to run the
plant. But, at the moment, just 300 or so engineers were undertaking training
courses locally and overseas, according to the plant’s management board.
Meanwhile, the Vietnam Agency for Radiation
and Nuclear Safety and Control is struggling to complete in time hundreds of
documents on safety standards and regulations, said Le Chi Dung, deputy head of
the agency.
This may pose risks to safety, because under
pressure, it’s very likely the agency would leave out several necessary
measures, he said.
Besides, there are several loopholes in the
way Vietnam built its atomic energy laws. For example, the Prime Minister, the
Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Science and Technology
share the job of licensing the plant, while it should be conducted by a single
agency, Dung said.
Moreover, these are not the only challenges to
Vietnam’s efforts to build nuclear power plants for meeting the nation’s
increasing demand for electricity.
At the meeting, scientists pointed out that
despite all the preparations that are going on for the project, seismic surveys
so far have never mentioned fault lines that can lead to earthquakes at the
plant’s proposed site.
In fact, the two-day conference ended with the
Ministry of Science and Technology ordering a fresh study on the plant’s
location.
Even when all the problems are solved, risks
to the plant’s safety are still there. Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant
was damaged badly in the Tohoku earthquake, although it was built by one of the
world’s most technologically advanced countries and with all considerations
taken into account, including quakes and tsunamis.
Therefore, what matters is not just laws and
technologies, but people’s reactions when safety risks take place.
A Japanese nuclear expert attending the
conference, Fumio Kudough, also stressed the need to develop a culture of
safety and reactions to risks, which is a lesson for Japan after the Tohoku
earthquake and tsunami. He suggested Vietnam should also draw lessons from
Japan’s experience.
To build such a culture is a long-term project
that all sections of society need to participate in. It cannot be done rapidly,
least of all in Vietnam, where the education system has been criticized for long
for not being practical and is still struggling to make needed adjustments.
It is said when you prepare well, you never go
wrong. But, when you can’t prepare well for this or that reason, it’s okay to
take a step back, especially when what you are planning concerns the lives of
innumerous people in the country, the region and beyond.
It should be noted that since the Fukushima
accident in March, many countries all over the world have reviewed their
nuclear power plans. With plans to build eight nuclear plants by 2031, Vietnam
can’t afford to stay out of this “nuclear safety race.”
However, as a greenhorn in this industry,
Vietnam should hold back and wait for new standards to be set up in the world.
In fact, Thailand, its neighbor, has already delayed all of its nuclear
projects until after 2030.
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