Towards becoming a national energy center: Focusing on building nuclear power

Speed up site clearance

The Ninh Thuan 1 and 2 Nuclear Power Plant Project has a total land acquisition area of 1,279 hectares. The work of inventorying, verifying the origin of land and resolving disputes is being carried out urgently. Specifically, in the area where the Ninh Thuan 1 Nuclear Power Plant Project is implemented (Phuoc Dinh commune), 497 land acquisition notices have been issued, with a total area of over 409.5 hectares, affecting 491 households and 6 organizations. All 491 inventory records of households whose land is acquired have been established and the inventory work has been completed. The resettlement area serving the Ninh Thuan 1 Nuclear Power Plant Project has a total area of 64.85 hectares, and inventory records have been established to date. It is expected that the resettlement area will increase by 26 hectares to ensure enough living space for people affected by the project. Learning at Vinh Truong village (Phuoc Dinh commune), where the Ninh Thuan 1 Nuclear Power Plant is planned to be built, Village Chief Nguyen Van Thang said: "This is a major national project. We hope that the project will be built soon to bring development to our hometown. Vinh Truong villagers hope that the project will be implemented synchronously, bringing a better life, creating jobs for workers and contributing to changing the face of their hometown, promoting the socio-economic development of the locality and the country".

Comrade Tran Quoc Nam - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation inspected the core area of the Ninh Thuan 2 Nuclear Power Plant Project.

Mr. Tran Quoc Nam - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation inspected the core area of the Ninh Thuan 2 Nuclear Power Plant Project.

In the area where the Ninh Thuan 2 Nuclear Power Plant Project is being implemented in Thai An village (Vinh Hai commune), the inventory work has been 100% completed, with 534 households and 3 organizations affected on an area of 405.5 hectares. The resettlement area has a total area of 54.4 hectares and the existing residential area with a total area of 13.43 hectares has basically completed the inventory work. In particular, the resettlement area has specific land prices to calculate compensation, creating favorable conditions for people to stabilize agricultural production in their new residence. Mr. Nguyen Hang - Head of Thai An village said that people in the project area fully support the State's policy on implementing the nuclear power project. Such projects are an opportunity for people living along the Vinh Hai coast to change their lives. However, people in the project area hope that the project will be implemented soon, not prolonged, in order to stabilize their lives. The project area is agricultural land where people are growing crops, so the government needs to have social security policies, arrange land funds, and create jobs for people when they move to their new homes.

Mr. TRINH MINH HOANG - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee: The provincial leaders determined that, in order for Khanh Hoa to continuously maintain double-digit economic growth from now until 2030, industry; energy; tourism - services; urban - construction will be the four main pillars to create breakthrough developments. Although energy is the second pillar, in the short term, this sector is playing a key and decisive role in the economic development of the province. An industrial project from implementation to operation takes 7 to 8 years or maybe longer; tourism - services, urban - construction projects from commencement to operation take an average of 4 to 5 years. Meanwhile, with energy projects, if the investor has potential, experience and high determination, within only 1 to 2 years of construction, the project will be put into operation, creating jobs and contributing to the state budget. In particular, the energy sector is Khanh Hoa's strength and the province is also aiming to become a national energy center. Therefore, in the immediate future, to accelerate growth, energy will be a pillar that plays a very important role."

Mr. Nguyen Van Que - Chairman of Vinh Hai Commune People's Committee affirmed: "The Commune People's Committee determined to focus on site clearance for the Ninh Thuan 2 Nuclear Power Plant Project. Although the two-level local government has just come into operation, the commune is still proactive in receiving documents; the commune's staff is working overtime, even on holidays to speed up progress. The locality will be determined to complete the tasks assigned by the province."

Need to untie the knots

Although the site clearance work has made many changes, the change in regulations on safe distances from residential areas has caused great difficulties for the locality. According to current regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the isolation area is 500m from the factory fence. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Science and Technology has determined that the minimum residential area is 1km. This difference will increase the reclaimed area by about 598ha for both factories. This boundary expansion will affect many public works, infrastructure and renewable energy projects that are already in operation; it is estimated that the compensation cost will increase to about 12,100 billion VND, putting great pressure on resettlement arrangements due to limited land funds and affecting project progress. Currently, the total estimated investment for the resettlement project is nearly 12,400 billion VND, of which the province needs about 3,200 billion VND to carry out the immediate work.

Implementation area of Ninh Thuan 1 Nuclear Power Plant Project.

Mr. Dang Gia Thuan - Vice Chairman of Phuoc Dinh Commune People's Committee shared: "We are making every effort to complete the inventory and complete the legal documents, ensuring the legitimate rights of the people. However, expanding the minimum residential area from 0.5km to 1km from the factory fence will increase the area of land acquisition, affecting educational and medical facilities, agency headquarters, traffic infrastructure and residential areas. According to the 2015 plan, more than 490 households were affected, but according to the new plan, the number of affected households is about 900 households. Therefore, the resettlement area will also increase".

In addition, currently, localities in the project area are lacking in land officials and people with experience in site clearance work. This directly affects the progress of work. Mr. Nguyen Van Que suggested: “To complete the site clearance target for the DHN projects in 2025 as directed by the Government, the Provincial People's Committee must certainly increase the number of experienced staff for localities. Although currently, communes have worked overtime and added days off, because there are very few people with real expertise, the work cannot be accelerated. Only when there are enough people can the work really ensure the set progress.”

Mr. HO XUAN NINH - Director of the Department of Industry and Trade: In the coming time, the Department of Industry and Trade will advise the Provincial People's Committee to review, adjust and supplement tasks for departments, branches and localities to meet the actual situation, not to miss any tasks and ensure the progress of the proposed project; advise the Provincial People's Committee to direct the development of a plan to implement the work of relocating and resettling people after the Central Government allocates a budget support of VND 3,200 billion to implement the project of relocating people and resettling nuclear power plant projects. Based on the compensation and support mechanisms and policies approved by the Provincial People's Council, the Provincial People's Committee will focus on directing departments, branches, the Project Management Board for Investment and Construction and local authorities to carry out compensation and support for site clearance in the core area of the plant and resettlement areas according to regulations to stabilize the lives of people affected by the project, striving to complete in 2025.

With the current difficulties, Mr. Trinh Minh Hoang - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee has just held an urgent meeting with localities to find solutions to remove bottlenecks to ensure the progress of site clearance work. He requested relevant localities to complete site clearance for the project before December 30. Specifically, it is necessary to complete the issuance of notices and posting of land acquisition, acquisition prices, and compensation in August to ensure immediate payment to people when the budget is approved. The province's goal is to basically complete site clearance for the core area and resettlement areas in 2025; Complete all site clearance work and component projects for relocation and resettlement in 2026. “In the immediate future, the Provincial People's Committee requests the Department of Agriculture and Environment to arrange personnel and increase specialized staff in Phuoc Dinh and Vinh Hai communes to support the implementation of site clearance work. At the same time, relevant agencies will promptly hand over documents to the two localities to have a basis for continued implementation. Localities must be more determined to implement site clearance for this important national project,” Mr. Trinh Minh Hoang emphasized.

With the strong direction from the provincial leaders and the efforts of all levels, sectors and localities, Khanh Hoa is showing great determination to remove obstacles and pave the way for the development of nuclear power projects, contributing to ensuring energy security and socio-economic development of the country.

ANH TUAN - DINH LAM

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/kinh-te/202507/huong-toi-tro-thanh-trung-tam-nang-luong-quoc-gia-don-luc-xay-dung-dien-nhat-nhan-2f066a9/