Bringing Resolution No. 189/2025/QH15 into life: Strive to realize the "dream" of Ninh Thuan nuclear power - Final article: Need for more open mechanisms

(PLVN) - Special preferential policies for nuclear power have been issued, but many experts believe that there will be many difficulties in achieving the scale of nuclear power as scheduled by the Government. So what needs to be done to put the nuclear power project into operation on time, contributing to the socio-economic development of the locality in particular and the country in general?

Must be well prepared

Implementing a “turnkey” contract is one of the specific mechanisms and policies that the National Assembly has “decided” to invest in the construction of the Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Project (including Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Plant 1 and 2) and its component projects. Implementing this type of contract will significantly shorten the project implementation time.

Economist , Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Trong Thinh assessed that choosing a "turnkey" contract is a very correct and timely decision to build a nuclear power plant. However, more open and open mechanisms are still needed to achieve the set progress. Because, to build a nuclear power plant is not simple, it requires careful preparation in terms of capital, technology, and human resources to be able to develop, in which it is necessary to prioritize capital sources and activities to prepare infrastructure, land, and preferential conditions, programs to shorten the process to implement the preparation of documents.

“Building a nuclear power plant requires a very strict process for investors, so now Vietnam only needs to create conditions for them with other conditions to meet the construction and development schedule. They must be able to meet the maximum conditions to implement on schedule and according to plan. But it is not simple,” Mr. Thinh assessed.

Energy expert, Dr. Nguyen Huy Hoach.

This is also the opinion that expert, Dr. Nguyen Huy Hoach (Vietnam Energy Association) shared with PLVN Newspaper. According to Dr. Hoach, the above mechanism and policy only satisfy and meet the progress of investment preparation, construction investment to the contract signing stage for the "turnkey" package to build the main plant. However, the time from signing the contract to building the main plant to commercial power generation depends entirely on negotiations with international contractors, compliance with mandatory regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in ensuring infrastructure and construction transition, as well as current nuclear regulatory regulations of the technology exporting country.

Dr. Nguyen Huy Hoach analyzed that the project preparation phase is completely done by us, so we can take the initiative to shorten the time. But when it comes to the construction of the main project (signing a contract in the form of a turnkey contract), the contractor agrees to do it within the time stated in the contract, so we depend entirely on the contractor.

Speed ​​up the preparation phase

When asked if there is any way to speed up the construction progress of Ninh Thuan 1 and 2 Nuclear Power Plants to meet the deadline assigned by the Government , Dr. Hoach worried that "it is difficult to speed up the progress because we are completely "empty-handed", cannot produce equipment, and do not master the technology... Meanwhile, statistics show that China - with the ability to master technology and localize up to 70% of the components of nuclear power plants, some recent projects completed construction in 5 - 6 years (from the time the project started construction).

Dr. Hoach affirmed that the construction phase of the plant, if well prepared, for a country building a nuclear power plant for the first time, can still last from 6 to 8 years. Therefore, the time to complete the investment project to build the plants will depend on 2 milestones, including the project preparation time (from 2 to 3 years) to the signing of the contract for the "turnkey" package to build the main plant, about 6 to 8 years of construction and installation according to international experience.

However, Dr. Hoach said that Vietnam can make convincing arguments about the completion timeline during the negotiation process with the project contractor. For this, the specialized agency needs to have a specific report on the main timelines to have appropriate instructions, ensuring the effectiveness of the project.

At the same time, according to Dr. Hoach: "Regarding partners implementing Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Projects, we should still prioritize choosing and working with two partners, Russia and Japan, which are the most convenient in terms of procedures, with less need to re-prepare documents to save time, as well as project construction costs."

Notably, according to this expert: "It is necessary to re-establish the Feasibility Study Report" because although the location of the nuclear power plant has not changed (according to the Feasibility Study Report established in September 2015), after 10 years, the technology for developing nuclear power has made progress, so it is necessary to calculate and choose the technology suitable for current conditions. Not to mention, the cost of technology and construction costs have also changed, so according to new technology data, updating natural conditions (meteorology, hydrology, terrain) may have changed in the past. Therefore, it is necessary to speed up the progress of re-establishing the Feasibility Study Report (based on the Feasibility Study Report established in September 2015) to submit to the Prime Minister for approval to have a basis for implementing the next steps.

Urgent human resource training

The issue of preparing high-quality human resources and technical human resources is extremely important in the process of deploying and constructing nuclear power plants. According to the report of Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), from 2017 (before stopping the investment policy of Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Project according to Resolution No. 31/2016/NQ-QH of the National Assembly), the Ministry of Education and Training sent a total of 429 students to study nuclear power-related majors at Russian universities, of which 80 students were from Ninh Thuan.

EVN has also sent 31 students to study majors related to nuclear power, sent a core cadre class of 24 engineers to train in Japan, and worked with ROSATOM to develop a detailed training plan for the Ninh Thuan 1 Nuclear Power Project. However, currently only a few of the above-mentioned personnel are working at EVN, while the majority are working abroad or moving to other industries and occupations.

Economist, Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Trong Thinh.

Meanwhile, to ensure the safe reception of technology transfer, operation, maintenance and repair of the plant, about 1,200 people are needed for positions such as safety control and radiation protection, project management, plant management and leadership, operation and exploitation of the furnaces, maintenance and technical support and other services... Thus, with the 2 Ninh Thuan 1 and 2 Nuclear Power Plant Projects, with a capacity of 2x2,000MW, the corresponding human resource demand will be 2,400 people. Most experts believe that Vietnam needs to urgently train high-quality human resources to be able to operate when the Plant comes into operation.

Therefore, according to Dr. Hoach, in the initial phase of the project, in addition to taking advantage of limited domestic resources, the participation of foreign consultants is mandatory so that Vietnam can supplement the shortcomings, as well as help Vietnamese officials learn and accumulate experience.

In addition, in the immediate future, there should be mechanisms and policies to attract technical staff and students trained in nuclear power majors who have returned to the country and are working for agencies and organizations inside and outside EVN to return to serve the Project, with special attention paid to students who have graduated with honors or higher to receive advanced training. In addition, it is necessary to research and rebuild a long-term human resource training plan for the nuclear power development program. This plan includes university training (domestic combined with sending abroad for training) and postgraduate training.

At the same time, it is necessary to immediately implement a national scientific and technological research program on nuclear power technology and safety to improve domestic capacity, towards safe and effective management and operation, as well as to acquire technology to serve nuclear power projects in the long term. Training a team of experts on nuclear technology and safety to have the capacity to forecast/prevent and handle safety-related issues (if any) requires a long time with a systematic and step-by-step training plan.

With the above synchronous solutions, we can completely trust and expect that the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project will soon become a reality, making an important contribution, effectively serving industrialization, modernization, promoting socio-economic growth to achieve the goals as set out in the Resolutions.

Speaking to PLVN Newspaper, Nguyen Phuong Tuan, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, said: The National Assembly's Resolution on Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Plant contains a number of special mechanisms and policies. During the review process, the Committee has a review report clearly stating its views on the mechanisms and policies. Accordingly, there are policies on contractor selection, policies related to negotiating intergovernmental agreements, or a number of other policies related to financial plans and plans for arranging investors.

Vice Chairman Nguyen Phuong Tuan also said that a policy that many people are interested in is the policy on migration and resettlement to stabilize the lives of people in the planning area for the construction of nuclear power plants. If we allow free migration and resettlement without stabilizing, people will not agree, and there will be complaints or petitions that will last for a long time when building nuclear power plants.

Notably, according to Mr. Tuan, Ninh Thuan province finds it very difficult to attract investors, while the province has a low starting point, faces many difficulties, and has very limited resources to implement projects serving socio-economic development. Supporting additional revenue for Ninh Thuan province during this time is extremely necessary to both serve the socio-economic development of the locality and create favorable conditions for infrastructure development to facilitate the implementation of investment in project construction, including compensation, land acquisition, resettlement and social security in the immediate period. "Specific, long-term policies will be assigned to the Government and the People's Committee of Ninh Thuan province to study, promulgate or propose to promulgate," said Mr. Tuan.

Thuc Quyen - Hoang Tu

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/dua-nghi-quyet-so-1892025qh15-vao-cuoc-song-doc-suc-hien-thuc-hoa-giac-mo-dien-hat-nhan-ninh-thuan-bai-cuoi-can-nhung-co-che-mo-hon-nua-post546689.html