Vietnamese Delegation Holds Talks with Representatives of the IAEA Nuclear Energy Development Department

On 8 June 2022, the Vietnamese delegation, headed by Ambassador Nguyen Trung Kien, Governor and Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the IAEA, and including Senior Colonel Nguyen Dinh Hien, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Chemical Corps, Ministry of National Defence, and representatives of specialised units of the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, met and held talks with representatives of the IAEA Nuclear Energy Development Department.

          From 6 to 10 June 2022, in Vienna (Republic of Austria), the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held a regular meeting attended by representatives of its 35 member States, as well as IAEA Member States and international organisations as observers. On the sidelines of the meeting, the Vietnamese delegation met and held talks with Ms Lydie Evrard, IAEA Deputy Director General for Safety and Security, and with representatives of the IAEA Nuclear Energy Development Department.

The Vietnamese delegation meeting Ms Lydie Evrard, IAEA Deputy Director General

for Safety and Security

At the meeting, Vietnam expressed its appreciation and gratitude to the IAEA for actively supporting Member States, including Vietnam, in applying nuclear technology to address global challenges and support sustainable development, especially in the fight against COVID-19. With regard to technology development and ensuring nuclear safety and security, Vietnam stressed the need to promote education and training and to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation on responding to radiological and nuclear incidents and disasters.

          Vietnam expressed its interest in the application of nuclear energy and technology in fields such as medicine, biology, agriculture, industry, and natural resources and the environment, for socio-economic development and to improve people's lives. The development of nuclear energy helps to ensure energy security, especially in the context of high fossil fuel prices, and also contributes to the implementation of the international agreements on climate change and environmental protection to which Vietnam is a party.

Vietnam affirmed the central role of the IAEA and highlighted its own major guidelines and policies and its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security and to use atomic energy for sustainable development.

          The IAEA affirmed that it would always support the application of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and encouraged Member States, on the basis of their actual circumstances, to put forward specific requests proactively so that cooperation between the two sides would be effective and practical. The IAEA representatives stated that cooperation with Vietnam in certain fields, such as agriculture and disease response, was proving successful and served as a model for developing cooperation with other Member States.

          On that basis, Vietnam requested the IAEA to continue supporting the improvement of its legal framework and the development of nuclear technology for sustainable development; the development of nuclear emergency response plans; and the study of new technologies such as small modular reactors (SMR), as well as the development of high-quality human resources for Vietnam. In addition, Vietnam hoped that the IAEA would step up discussions on amending and supplementing the standards on nuclear security, safety and emergency response, given the rapid development of nuclear technology today.

The Vietnamese delegation in talks with representatives of the IAEA Nuclear Energy Development Department

The IAEA representatives took note of the issues raised by the Vietnamese delegation and said that they would forward Vietnam's requests to the relevant departments for consideration and action. With regard to SMRs, transportable nuclear power plants (TNPP) and floating nuclear power plants (FNPP), the IAEA stated that these were new issues, mostly still at the research and testing stage and not yet widely deployed, so information and documentation remained limited. The IAEA affirmed that it would organise cooperation activities to enhance radiological and nuclear emergency preparedness and response capacity for Member States, including Vietnam, in the coming period, once the COVID-19 pandemic had been brought largely under control.

          The Nuclear Energy Development Department is one of the IAEA's five specialised departments and is responsible for cooperating with and assisting States in implementing sustainable nuclear energy development programmes. Through this mechanism, the IAEA provides technical support on the development and operation of nuclear facilities and on the formulation and adoption of nuclear power development programmes and plans.

Cao Dang Luu