Vietnam hopes for nuclear power by 2022: official
Vietnam is considering adding nuclear power to its electricity generation mix, a top government official said Wednesday.
"Maybe in 15 years, we hope to have a plant in operation," Ta Van Huong, director general of the Department of Energy and Petroleum at Vietnam's Ministry of Industry told Dow Jones Newswires.
"Nothing is confirmed yet," he said, however, on the sidelines of the 10th Asia Power and Energy Congress, an industry event in Singapore.
A report by Iranian PressTV web site, meanwhile, quoted him as telling the meeting that Vietnam planned to build a nuclear power facility by 2015, producing 2,000 megawatts of power by 2020.
"We hope that this year the official approval from the government will be sealed (so that) we (can) start to carry out the feasibility study on nuclear power," he said.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, Vietnam's electricity demand is forecast to grow at 15% per year until 2010.
The country is heavily reliant on hydropower, which constitutes more than 50% of its current electricity production.
The country's plan to build a nuclear power plant is part of efforts to move away from its reliance on hydropower and diversify its resource base. |
