Back in Japan, hundreds of workers have been desperately struggling to cool down the six reactors and spent fuel ponds at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant since a devastating 9-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami pounded northeastern Japan on March 11. Whether the situation can be put under control remains to be seen.

While the nuclear crisis in Japan is a wakeup call for some countries to review their nuclear power plans, Vietnam and some other nations including the U.S., Russia, China, Poland and Chile have said they are still sticking to their plans for building nuclear reactors because this source of energy does not cause the kind of pollution that leads to climate change, even though skepticisms abound.

Ngo Dang Nhan, head of the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety and Control (VARANSAC), has said the Japan nuclear crisis would not compel Vietnam to review its nuclear power program. This is just a much-needed lesson for Vietnam to ensure the country’s first two nuclear power plants to be built in the central coast province of Ninh Thuan will be up to safety standards, he told local media last week. The two plants will be around 20 km from midtown Phan Rang-Thap Cham City though they will be built in separate locations. 

Vuong Huu Tan, president of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute, told Sai Gon Tiep Thi newspaper in an interview that Vietnam will use advanced nuclear technology to cope with safety concerns. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was built in the 1970s, so it used second-generation reactors characterized by active safety features, Tan said, while Vietnam’s upcoming nuclear power plants will have passive safety features. Active safety systems depend on operator or computer automated intervention while passive safety systems allow reactors to respond to emergencies or shut down without needing input from plant operator or backup power supply.

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang has also emphasized Vietnam will not back off from its nuclear energy plan despite threats of a meltdown at the Fukushima 1 facility. And there is no need for the authorities to reevaluate its plan to build atomic facilities, he implied, because of the advanced technology that will be embraced. A National Assembly resolution makes it clear that the Ninh Thuan plants will use reactors of generation 3 or 3 Plus that have passive safety features, Hoang is quoted by the online newspaper VietnamNet as reassuring the public. Therefore, he stressed, any unprecedented nuclear accident similar to the one at Fukushima 1 would not happen to Vietnam’s forthcoming facilities.

In addition to the selection of safe nuclear technology, he said in Cong Thuong newspaper, the locations for the Ninh Thuan plants have been chosen in a way that guarantees maximum safety for the people and the environment.

The rationale of Vietnam’s atomic energy plan is to cope with the looming serious power shortages. Le Van Hong, deputy director of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute, told the online paper VnExpress that the nation’s electric power demand grows 15-16% a year while the capacity of the existing thermo- and hydro-power plants has been stretched to the limits. After 2015 Vietnam will have to import more electricity if there is no alternative source of power, so it is necessary to have the first nuclear power facility to be up and running by 2020, he said. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, work on Ninh Thuan 1 plant could start in 2014 as Vietnam signed an agreement with Russia on development of this project in late October last year.

Acknowledging the need for developing nuclear energy in the country to ward off a possible severe power undersupply in the coming years, Dang Dinh Cung, a Vietnamese French nuclear energy consultant, said in an article published on the website of Sai Gon Tiep Thi newspaper on Thursday that 2014 is not the ripe time for Vietnam to begin constructing a nuclear power plant.

The probability of a nuclear accident might be substantially reduced but this does not mean one will not happen, Cung said. It will not be a great challenge for Vietnam to train 3,000 nuclear power workers but developing a nuclear energy industry that is reliable, safe and environmentally friendly will require a very strong government, a well-educated population and a diversified industrial sector.

Under current circumstances, he said, Vietnam should delay nuclear power generation until 2030 or 2035 when it becomes a civilized and industrialized nation.