Nguyen Hoang Linh, Director of the Viet Nam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, has affirmed the country’s consistent policy of developing and applying nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, serving socio-economic development, ensuring energy security and promoting sustainable development, at the plenary sitting of the 70th Regular Session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference in Austria.
Held from September 14–18, the event is an important annual policy forum where IAEA member states review the agency’s activities and discuss major issues concerning the peaceful use of nuclear energy, nuclear safety and security, safeguards and nuclear non-proliferation, technical cooperation, and the application of nuclear science and technology in healthcare, agriculture and the environment.
Delivering Viet Nam’s national statement, Linh said the Southeast Asian nation is implementing its strategy for the development and application of atomic energy for peaceful purposes through 2035, with a vision to 2050, while preparing the necessary conditions for its Ninh Thuan nuclear power projects, nuclear sci-tech centre, and new research reactor.
Viet Nam stressed that nuclear programmes and projects must be implemented responsibly and transparently, with safety, security and nuclear non-proliferation given the highest priority.
On the sidelines of the conference, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Xuan Dinh, head of the Vietnamese delegation, held working sessions with Karine Herviou, IAEA Deputy Director General and head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security; Najat Mokhtar, IAEA Deputy Director General and head of the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications; and leaders of the IAEA’s Department of Nuclear Energy.
The discussions focused on strengthening IAEA support for Viet Nam in developing nuclear power infrastructure, completing the regulatory framework, enhancing nuclear safety and security capabilities, developing human resources, and promoting the application of nuclear science and technology.
Also as part of the General Conference, Dinh and the delegation held working sessions with Alexander Trembitsky, Chairman of Russia’s Federal Environmental, Industrial and Nuclear Supervision Service (Rostechnadzor), and Evgeniy Abakumov, Deputy Director General of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, to discuss steps to implement cooperation agreements and explore further areas of cooperation in which Russia has strengths, including quantum technology, fusion research and the application of artificial intelligence in the nuclear energy sector.
The Viet Nam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety also held meetings with IAEA specialised units responsible for legal affairs, safeguards, nuclear security and technical cooperation, as well as exchanges with the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission of the Republic of Korea (NSSC), the World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS), the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), and other international partners.
The Viet Nam Atomic Energy Institute, meanwhile, attended the 55th General Conference Meeting of national representatives of the Regional Co-operative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology (RCA). It also held bilateral meetings with several partners to accelerate implementation of a nuclear science and technology research centre project, featuring a new research reactor in the southern Vietnamese province of Dong Nai; discuss cooperation in providing consultancy for the Ninh Thuan nuclear power projects; and promote research, development, applications and human resource training in the nuclear sector.
