Nuclear power: Should Vietnam build 4 reactors at once?

VietNamNet Bridge – Scientists have been debating about whether to build one reactor in the immediate future or multiple reactors at the same time.

According to the draft plan of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on nuclear power development, Vietnam will build two nuclear power plants in the southern province of Ninh Thuan with four reactors, each with the capacity of 1,000 MW. The reactors will be put into operation between 2020 and 2024.

One reactor is a good start

Nuclear power proves to be a suitable solution as the world is facing an energy crisis, so the country’s plan to develop nuclear power after 2020 is considered a reasonable strategy.

Prof Dr Pham Duy Hien, former Head of the Vietnam Nuclear Energy Institute, said that in the first period of nuclear power development, Vietnam should have one reactor only. It would be able to learn much from the reactor’s operation which would serve the construction and operation of other reactors in the future.

The success of the first nuclear reactor would lay the foundation for the development of nuclear technology in Vietnam.

Hien said that one of the problems of nuclear power plants is safety. The safety level of nuclear power plants not only depends on technologies, but also on management and organisational skills, and the qualifications of staffs.

One of the four reactors Vietnam is scheduled to have after 2020 has 6,000 times the heat capacity of the Da Lat reactor, while the volume of radioactive substance in the reactor is several times higher.

If Vietnam wants to be able to generate electricity by 2020, it has to kick off the construction of nuclear power plants no later than 2015, which also means that Vietnamese experts need to begin working on the plants right now. Meanwhile, experts say that it takes 15 years at least to train and choose the persons who can be assigned the heavy responsibility of operating the power plants.

In general, experts have voiced the same concern that building four reactors at the same time proves to be too risky, beyond the capacity of Vietnam.

In the history of the world’s nuclear power development, no country has reportedly entered the nuclear power development period with four reactors at the same time. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam drew up an ambitious plan with four reactors (4,000 MW) at once, which could account for 15% of total electricity output.

China began operating its first nuclear power plant in 1991. It only had the modest capacity of 300MW.

Safety first

Prof Dr Tran Dinh Long, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Power Association, said that building nuclear power plants is not as simple as building normal plants, and construction needs to be perfect. Scientists need to sit to discuss technologies, equipment and suppliers.

Dr Nguyen Ngoc Sinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Natural Resources and the Environment, said that it is necessary to make a survey of possible impacts on the environment before carrying out the nuclear power plant project.

Nuclear power plants do not generate CO2 and waste, but this does not mean that they do not pollute the environment. A small plant problem is enough to cause serious impacts on the environment.

Meanwhile, Prof Chu Hao, former Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, suggested that if Vietnam’s demand is not really urgent, it should delay the construction of a nuclear power plant so that it can access more modern technologies.

In fact, with third-generation reactors, experts believe that a catastrophe like the one that occurred at Chernobyl is unlikely. However, accidents could still occur at different levels, especially if Vietnam’s management skills remain weak.

To date, Vietnam still has not decided which technologies to choose for the first nuclear power plant.

According to Dr Vuong Huu Tan, Head of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute, there are three scenarios:

Scenario 1: building a nuclear power plant in one place with two power generation units which have the total capacity of 2,000 MW and are put into commercial operation by 2019 or 2020.

Scenario: building nuclear power plants in two places with four power generation units (4,000 MW). One technology for the two places.

Scenario 3: building nuclear power plants in two places with four power generation units (4,000 MW). Two technologies for the two places.

Source: TBKTVN
Update from: http://english.vietnamnet.vn//reports/2008/10/809541/

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