19 Apr (NucNet): Japan’s prime minister Yukio Hatoyama has told his Vietnamese counterpart that he “strongly supports” Vietnam’s plans to build its first commercial nuclear reactor unit.
He told Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung that Japan hoped to begin negotiations with Vietnam on a nuclear cooperation agreement between the two countries.
According to the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, Mr Hatoyama also sent Mr Dung a personal letter emphasising Japan’s “high level of technology and safety with nuclear power generation”.
Mr Hatoyama said Japan is ready to cooperate with Vietnam towards introducing nuclear energy and he hopes Mr Dung will soon choose Japan as Vietnam’s construction partner.
In November 2009, Vietnam’s National Assembly approved a resolution to build the country’s first two commercial nuclear reactor units, each with an installed capacity of 2,000 megawatts, in the southern province of Ninh Thuan.
Construction of the first unit is expected to start in 2014 so that it would be operational in 2020.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
US Signs Agreement To Help Vietnam Prepare For Nuclear Energy (News No. 209, 13 September 2007)
Vietnam Approves Proposals For First Two Commercial Nuclear Units (News in Brief No. 152, 25 November 2009)
