HCMC - Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a VND3-trillion project to develop human resources for the nuclear energy sector as part of the nuclear power development plan.
The plan that aims to ensure energy security and strengthen the country’s science and technology sector would train 2,400 engineers, 350 nuclear scientists, 650 engineers and 250 experts in nuclear management, safety and security by 2020.
The Government will invest in six universities currently involved in nuclear power training, comprising the Natural Science Universities of Hanoi and HCMC, Hanoi’s Polytechnic University, Dalat University, University of Electricity, and the Nuclear Training Center under Vietnam Nuclear Energy Institute.
The project would help Vietnam to achieve its skilled worker target for the nuclear power industry, the Government’s website reports.
Currently, there is a severe lack of human resources in the sector. According to the 2008 survey of the Ministry of Education and Training, there were 505 experts in nuclear science and technology working in 10 organizations.
The sector lacks highly trained scientists, while nearly all the scientists with PhDs in the field in Vietnam were over 50 years old.
Vietnam plans to have two nuclear power plants with the total capacity of 4,000 MW built in Binh Thuan Province within ten years. Of them, the Russian-invested Ninh Thuan 1 plant will break ground in 2014 to come on stream in 2020, with the total cost of VND200 trillion.
