Nuclear Power in Vietnam

(updated November 2012)

• Vietnam has considered establishing nuclear power generation since 1995, and firm proposals surfaced in 2006.
• Russia has agreed to finance and build 2000 MWe of nuclear capacity.
• Japan has agreed similarly for another 2000 MWe.

Vietnam is the most significant of the three lower Mekong countries, with a population of 88 million. Vietnam produced 100.1 billion kWh gross in 2010 from 19.7 GWe of plant, giving per capita consumption of 1140 kWh/yr. In 2009, 33% of the country's capacity was hydro, 17% gas (CCGT), 12% coal, 6% oil - all under Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), and 33% was with IPP & BOT outside EVN. 

Electricity supply in 2010 was 38% from hydro, 33.6% gas and 18.5% coal. GDP growth in 2010 was 6.8%. In 2012 demand is expected to be 10.9% up on 2011, total 120.8 billion kWh: 45.0 hydro, 24.8 coal, 45.7 gas, 0.5 oil, and 4.65 import from China. A total of 3.1 GWe capacity is due to be added in 2012.

Demand is growing rapidly, resulting in rationing. Electricity demand growth has been 14% pa and is expected to be 15% pa to 2015, then slowing to 2020. A 500 kV grid runs the length of the country and some 95% of the rural population has access to electricity.

Projections of power demand (base scenario) in 2011 are:

30.8 GWe, 194 TWh in 2015 (33% hydro, 35.5% coal),
52.0 GWe, 320 TWh in 2020 (26% hydro, 46% coal, 17% gas, 1.5% nuclear),
77.0 GWe, 490 TWh in 2025 (21% hydro, 46% coal, 16% gas, 6% nuclear),
110.2 GWe, 695 TWh in 2030 (16% hydro, 56% coal, 11% gas, 8% nuclear - with nuclear share then increasing to 20-25% by 2050).

Nuclear power proposals

In the early 1980s two preliminary nuclear power studies were undertaken, followed by another which reported in 1995 that: "Around the year 2015, when electricity demand reaches more than 100 billion kWh, nuclear power should be introduced for satisfying the continuous growth in the country's electricity demand in that time and beyond".  Current projections almost double this.

In February 2006 the government announced that a 2000 MWe nuclear power plant should be on line by 2020. This general target was confirmed in a nuclear power development plan approved by the government in August 2007, with the target being raised to a total of 8000 MWe nuclear by 2025. A general law on nuclear energy was passed in mid 2008, and a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework is being developed.

Since October 2008, two reactors total 2000 MWe have been planned at Phuoc Dinh in the southern Ninh Thuan province. A further 2000 MWe was planned at Vinh Hai nearby, followed by a further 6000 MWe by 2030. Both locations are based particularly on geological suitability on the coast. A high demand scenario would give 8000 MWe in 2025 and 15,000 MWe (10% of total) in 2030 at up to eight sites in five provinces. Four more units would be added to the first two sites, then six more at three or four central sites in provinces of Quang Ngai (Duc Thang or Duc Chanh), Binh Dinh (Hoai My) and Phu Yen (Xuan Phuong). These, plus Ky Xuan in the northern Ha Tinh province, remained proposals in mid 2011.

Atomstroyexport, Westinghouse, EdF, Kepco, and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (CGNPC) all expressed strong interest in supplying the first two twin-unit plants. Unconfirmed reports early in 2010 said that the Japanese government, with Tepco and others, offered an $11 billion contract, also that a consortium of Mitsubishi, Toshiba and Hitachi bid for the project. The plants will be state-owned under EVN, with no private equity.

In July 2011 the government issued a master plan specifying Ninh Thuan 1 & 2 nuclear power plants with a total of eight 1000 MWe-class reactors, one coming on line each year 2020-27, then two more larger ones to 2029 at a central location. The Ministry of Industry & Trade (MOIT) is responsible for the actual projects, while the Ministry of Science & Technology (MOST) supports the program, developing a master plan and regulation.
 

The main focus is now on the initial 2000 MWe of the power plant at Phuoc Dinh in Ninh Thuan province. A pre-feasibility study for this carried out by the Ministry of Industry & Trade (MOIT) was approved by the National Assembly in November 2009, and a comprehensive feasibility study is following. In May 2010 the prime minister established the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project. The Ninh Thuan Project Management Board functions under EVN.

In October 2010 an intergovernmental agreement was signed for Atomstroyexport to build the Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant, using two VVER-1000 reactors, later specified as AES-91 power plants as at Tianwan in China. It is to be constructed from 2014 as a turnkey project and come into operation from 2020. Rosatom has confirmed that Russia's Ministry of Finance is prepared to finance at least 85% of this first plant, to supply the fuel and take back the used fuel for the life of the plant, as is normal Russian policy for non-nuclear-weapons states.  An agreement for up to $9 billion finance was signed in November 2011 with the Russian government's state export credit bureau, and a second agreement for $500 million loan covered the establishment of a nuclear science and technology centre. 'Several tens of students' have been undertaking training in Russia. The work schedule was confirmed by Rosatom in mid 2012.

On the same day in October 2010 an intergovernmental agreement with Japan was signed for construction of a second nuclear power plant at Vinh Hai in Ninh Thuan province, with its two reactors to come on line in 2024-25 (since brought forward). The following month the government signed a further accord with Japan on this, and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), said that Japan Atomic Power Co. (JAPC) and the International Nuclear Energy Development of Japan Co. Ltd. (JINED), would work with EVN on the project, which will involve financing and insurance of up to 85% of the total cost. JINED is a consortium of Japan's METI, nine utilities (led by Chubu, Kansai & Tepco) and three manufacturers (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba and Hitachi).  The intergovernmental agreement took effect from January 2012.

In February 2011 JAPC signed an agreement with EVN to advance the feasibility study, and in September it signed a contract with EVN to provide consulting services to help with site selection and an 18-month, $26 million feasibility study including technology selection with economic and financial analysis, funded by the Japanese government. The following day an agreement (MOU) was signed between EVN and JINED to progress the design, construction and operation of the plant, with reactors coming on line in 2021 and 2022. EVN listed six criteria to apply, including late-model reactors, stable supply of fuel, support for local industry and education of staff, and financial support.  Japan has committed to train about 1000 staff for Ninh Thuan 2. Vinh Hai is on Cam Ranh Bay, about 20 km northeast of Phuoc Dinh.  In October 2011 a less-formal arrangement for cooperation in construction was signed, and work on the infrastructure for construction was under way.  A decision on technology is not expected before late 2013, though PWR appears likely, and Mitsubishi says that if it is PWR then the reference plant will be Hokkaido’s Tomari 3, an 866 MWe unit.

The Vietnam and South Korean presidents have approved a jointly-prepared plan on nuclear power plant construction, and agreed to "use the plan as a basis for future cooperation projects to be undertaken in accordance with agreement between the two countries." "The two sides took a special note of South Korea's proposals on developing a nuclear power plant in Vietnam based on South Korean technologies," according to a joint statement in November 2011.  In March 2012 a nuclear cooperation agreement was signed to take this forward, with a one-year feasibility study on constructing a Korean plant.

As well as developing nuclear power plants in Vietnam, EVN expects to collaborate with CGNPC which is building the large Fangchenggang nuclear power plant just across the northern border.

A nuclear cooperation agreement was signed with Russia in 2002, and since 2006, others have been signed with France, China (in particular with CGNPC), South Korea, Japan, USA and Canada. In 2007 there was an agreement between the US Department of Energy's (DoE's) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) for cooperation and information exchange on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. A further nuclear cooperation agreement with the USA was signed in March 2010. In June 2010 the Japan Atomic Energy Agency signed an agreement with the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety & Control (VARANS) for infrastructure development for safeguards and nuclear security in respect of nuclear nonproliferation. 

Fuel cycle

The Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment’s Department of Geology & Minerals is undertaking evaluation of a uranium deposit in Quang Nam province which is believed to have about 7000 tU in0.05% ore.

However, 2010 plans call for importing all the uranium required for 14 reactors totalling 10.7 GWe.

For the first two reactors, Russia's policy for building nuclear power plants in non-nuclear weapons states is to deliver on a turnkey basis, including supply of all fuel and repatriation of used fuel for the life of the plant. The fuel is to be reprocessed in Russia and the separated wastes returned to the client country eventually.


R&D

An early nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia relates principally to Vietnam's 500 kW Da Lat research reactor, built in 1980, commissioned 1984. This replaced an earlier US Triga MkII reactor which started in 1963 but was dismantled by the USA in the early 1970s. In 2007 the USA helped convert the Da Lat reactor to use low-enriched fuel.  It is run by Vinatom.

Russia has agreed to build a new 15 MW research reactor at Da Lat, starting in mid 2013, for operation from October 2018.

Organisation and regulation

Vietnam's new Atomic Energy Law was passed in June 2008 and came into effect early in 2009. Under this, a national nuclear safety commission responsible to the Prime Minister for safety and licensing was established in July 2010.  The law is being revised by 2013 to make it more fit for purpose, particularly integrating regulatory aspects.

The Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission/ Agency was established in 1976 and is under the Ministry of Science & Technology (MOST). A national steering committee with the role of Implementing Organisation, and including the representatives of the different ministries and governmental organizations, was established in May 2010 by the Prime Minister. 

The Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (VINATOM) is part of MOST, and responsible for R&D, technical support, personnel training and technical services including the Da Lat research reactor.

The Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety & Control (VARANS) is the regulator, also part of MOST. In June 2008 the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and VARANS signed a cooperation agreement to share technical information on nuclear energy as well as exchanging information about regulations, environmental impact and safety of nuclear sites. This will be the main formative influence on VARANS, though it is also actively cooperating with NISA (Japan) and Rostechnadzor (Russia), which will shape the regulatory arrangements for the first plant. By January 2012 VARANS had 90 staff (up from 8 in Aug 2005), including 11 PhD, 17 MSc.

Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) will be the company responsible for building and operating the plants, and will be the sole investor for the first two plants (each nominally 2 x 1000 MWe). The estimated $11 billion for these was to be financed with up to 25% EVN equity and the balance borrowed from countries supplying the technology. EVN considers that with the average rate of GDP development at about 7 - 8% per year it believes that financing should not be an insuperable problem. EVN is under the Department of Energy within the Ministry of Industry & Trade (MOIT). The Ninh Thuan Project Management Board is under EVN.

Uranium and fuel cycle

There are plans to mine uranium in the central Quang Nam province, where resources of 8000 tU are quoted. Canadian company NWT Uranium Corp has been asked to help assess prospects.

Non-Proliferation

Vietnam's safeguards agreement with the IAEA under the NPT entered force in 1990 and it has signed but not ratified the Additional Protocol.

 Sources 

Le, Doan Phac, 2011, Vietnam’s Nuclear Power Development Plan: Challenges and Preparation Work for the First Nuclear Power Projects, INPRO SMR Forum Oct 2011.