Vinh Tan 4 Thermal Power Plant: Successfully rehearsed response to 3 serious environmental incident situations

Three simulated complex environmental incident scenarios have just been successfully handled by Vinh Tan 4 Thermal Power Plant under Vietnam Electricity Group in coordination with the Environmental Safety Incident Response Center in a comprehensive incident response drill.

Accordingly, the drill was carried out on a large scale, simulating three emergency situations such as: NaOH chemical leak at the Unit 3 reclamation house; fly ash leak at Unit 3 ash silo; fuel oil spill at the coal port area. Each scenario was developed in detail, with the aim of testing the ability to quickly respond, multi-sectoral coordination, the ability to mobilize forces and handle the situation safely and effectively.

Deputy Head of Technical and Safety Department of Vinh Tan 4 Thermal Power Plant spoke at the rehearsal.

The factory coordinated with the Border Guard force to participate in the exercise.

In the first situation, at 9am, the NaOH tanker's pipe slipped, causing about 100 liters of chemical to spill onto the floor. One worker was hit by the chemical and became unconscious. The response team immediately activated emergency procedures: isolating the scene, evacuating the victims, deploying firefighting and medical teams, and chemical incident response teams to collect the entire amount of NaOH using buoys, absorbent pads and specialized absorbent powder, and handling it in accordance with hazardous waste regulations.

Chemical incident response drill images.

Images of environmental incident response drills.

Then at 10am, an ash leak occurred at the Unit 3 fly ash silo due to a burst valve, releasing about 50m³ of fly ash into the air, causing a dust cloud up to 30m high. A sanitation worker panicked and fell unconscious. Emergency response teams quickly isolated the area, used mist sprayers, booms, sludge suction trucks, and specialized equipment to control fly ash and collect wet ash, and transported the injured to Vinh Hao Commune Health Station.

Oil spill response drill at coal import port.

The final situation occurred at 2 p.m. the same day at the coal import port of Vinh Tan 4 Thermal Power Plant. The collision caused the oil tank to burst, spilling about 500 liters of fuel oil into the sea, posing a serious risk of fire and explosion. The oil spill response force from Duong Dong Company and the Border Guard were urgently mobilized, deployed a J-shaped boom, dropped an oil recovery skimmer, and used an oil absorbent pad to clean the sea surface. A sailor injured while deploying the boom was also promptly rescued and given first aid.

Forces participating in environmental incident response drills at Vinh Tan 4 Thermal Power Plant.

At the drill summary session, Mr. Nguyen Trong Dung - Deputy Head of the Factory's Technical and Safety Department said: "This drill is not only an opportunity to review and re-evaluate the entire response plan but also helps improve practical skills, command and coordination capacity between units. This is an important preparation step to effectively respond if a real situation occurs."

The drill ended safely at 4 p.m. the same day with positive recognition and evaluation from the authorities and participating units; thereby demonstrating the proactive and responsible spirit of Vinh Tan 4 Thermal Power Plant in ensuring environmental safety and national energy security.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/nha-may-nhiet-dien-vinh-tan-4-dien-tap-thanh-cong-ung-pho-3-tinh-huong-su-co-moi-truong-nghiem-trong-383106.html