Vietnam, UK share atomic energy experience

Researchers and lecturers from leading UK institutes in atomic energy shared their experience with their Vietnamese partners on research and human resources training in the field at two seminars in Hanoi on December 9 and 10.

They reviewed the situation of human resources training in the atomic energy sector at Vietnamese universities and proposed cooperation with the UK to improve quality and ensure the manpower for Vietnam’s first two nuclear power plants.

Assoc. Prof. and Doctor Vuong Huu Tan, Head of the Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety and Andrew Holt, First Secretary of the British Embassy, shared the view that the seminars were the start of a long-term cooperation programme between the two countries in the coming time.

The events also offered a chance for both sides to exchange and agree upon cooperation contents in human resources training and research in atomic energy as well as help the UK experts understand more about Vietnam’s demand, thus creating a foundation for discussions of a long-term partnership in the future.

On November 28, representatives from Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in using atomic energy for peaceful purposes.

Under the agreement, the two sides will join hands in education and training, human resources development, research and development of civil nuclear power plants, and the application of radiation and radioactive isotopes in socio-economic development.

They will also strengthen the management of radioactive waste and used materials while cooperating in infrastructure, financial consultation, information and communications, and response to nuclear problems.