Vietnam is running short of qualified human resources to work in the industry. Although some short-term training courses have been run to fill the gap, plans for more formal training are undertaken at a snail’s pace and have yet to meet necessary requirements.

Delegates at a workshop in Hanoi on August 9 pointed out major difficulties, saying short- and long-term training needs are too general, including determining which subjects are required, and when and how to achieve certification.

Vietnam is lacking special incentives and treatment to attract competent experts and university graduates to the industry, they said.

Deputy PM Nhan asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to re-examine and speed up human resource development plans in the atomic energy industry.

He assigned the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) to work with Electricity of Vietnam Group (EVN) to consider including advanced training programmes on nuclear energy in the Electricity University syllabus.

The MoET was also required to draft incentive policies for human resource training in the atomic energy industry to be submitted to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval before September 15, 2012.

Vietnam is developing projects to build two nuclear power plants to meet the country’s increasing demand for electricity in the coming years.