Guidelines for preliminary nuclear safety assessment of nuclear power plant sites

The Minister of Science and Technology (MOST) has signed and issued Circular No. 20/2025/TT-BKHCN amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 13/2009/TT-BKHCN dated May 20, 2009 of the Minister of MOST guiding the preliminary assessment of nuclear safety for nuclear power plant sites during the investment decision phase.

Pursuant to the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son in Official Dispatch No. 395/TB-VPCP dated August 4, 2025 of the Government Office , the Ministry of Science and Technology has presided over the drafting of a Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 13/2009/TT-BKHCN in a simplified order.

Perspective of Ninh Thuan nuclear power project in 2016.

The construction process was carried out seriously, through many rounds of collecting opinions from units inside and outside the Ministry, synthesizing, absorbing and perfecting the draft.

Specifically, amendments and supplements to the investment report on the construction of a nuclear power plant: The investor shall prepare an investment report on the construction of a nuclear power plant including the contents on the construction site, prohibited residential areas, restricted residential areas, land use needs and other contents as prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 17 of Decree No. 70/2010/ND-CP dated June 22, 2010 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Atomic Energy on nuclear power plants.

For residential areas and restricted residential areas, conditions must be complied with to minimize the impact of ionizing radiation on the residential community. The residential area is the area surrounding the nuclear power plant site and must also meet the following requirements: The effective whole-body dose of a person standing at the boundary outside the residential area must not exceed 0.1 mSv/year under normal operating conditions according to the design; The effective whole-body dose of a person standing at the boundary outside the residential area must not exceed 0.25 Sv (25 rem) and the equivalent dose to the thyroid gland I-131 must not exceed 3 Sv (300 rem) within 2 hours after the assumed incident.

A restricted population area is an area surrounding a restricted population area in which a person at the outer boundary of this area receives a total effective whole-body dose not exceeding 0.25 Sv (25 rem) or an equivalent dose to the thyroid gland of I-131 not exceeding 3 Sv (300 rem) during the passage of a hypothetical radioactive cloud.

The Circular also supplements the Calculation Program in the safety analysis of radiation impacts on the community to be implemented according to the provisions of Article 9 of Circular No. 12/2015/TT-BKHCN dated July 20, 2015 of the Minister of Science and Technology regulating safety analysis for nuclear power plants.

The issued circular helps promptly remove difficulties in the practical implementation of the Ninh Thuan 1 and 2 Nuclear Power Plant projects.

Center for Science and Technology Communication

Source: https://mst.gov.vn/huong-dan-danh-gia-so-bo-ve-an-toan-hat-nhan-doi-voi-dia-diem-nha-may-dien-hat-nhan-197251116174616051.htm