Radiation safety- criterion for nuclear power plants
Domestic and foreign scientists have proposed radiation safety as a criterion for assessment of nuclear power plants’ environmental impact.
The proposal was made at a seminar in Hanoi on July 24 to contribute ideas to a draft on technical guidelines to assess environmental impact of nuclear power plants.
The event was jointly held by the Vietnam Environment Administration under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
At the seminar, participants mentioned Vietnam’s legal documents on radiation safety, particularly for nuclear power plants, the difference between the process of assessing environmental impact of normal projects and nuclear power plants in Vietnam, as well as nuclear technologies and sources that generate radiation.
Plans to evaluate problems at nuclear power plants and measures to deal with them, radiation safety management and the health of people living around the project area were also debated.
MoNRE Deputy Minister Bui Cach Tuyen stressed the need to evaluate environmental impact from nuclear power plants as this is an issue of the Government’s special attention.
Among issues that need to be considered, radiation safety is the most important, especially when the country still lacks capacity and experience in the field, added Tuyen.
He said that nuclear energy becomes essential as demand for electricity in Vietnam is increasing while other energy resources are nearly exhausted.