Sister Lab Program Prospective Partner Nuclear Profile: Vietnam
Vietnam's nuclear program began in the 1960s with the installation at Dalat of a 250 kW TRIGA Mk-II research reactor under the U.S. Atoms for Peace Program. The reactor was shut down and its core removed only a few years later, and the nuclear research program was suspended until after the end of the civil war in the late 1970s. The Soviet Union assisted Vietnam in restoring the Dalat reactor to an operational status in 1984, trained a cadre of scientific and technical staff in its operation, and contributed to the development of nuclear science for the medical and agricultural sectors. In the agricultural area in particular, Vietnamese experts have been very successful in developing mutant strains of rice, and continue to work with the IAEA to yield strains that have a shorter growing period, increased resistance to disease, and other desirable characteristics. Rice has always been the main crop in Vietnam, but technical cooperation with the IAEA and other states has enabled the country to become one of the top rice producers in the world, exporting much of its annual crop to over two dozen countries annually. More recently, Vietnam's government has shown increasing interest in developing a civil nuclear program to supplement its fossil fuel and other energy resources. Projections from a variety of open sources, ranging from the IAEA, the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA), the Vietnamese government, energy corporations, and think tanks all predict a massive increase in energy consumption--especially electricity--within Vietnam and the region as a whole. This growth in consumption will require a corresponding increase in energy production, which in Vietnam is currently satisfied mainly by fossil fuels (coal) and renewable energy (hydropower and biomass); Vietnam has a refining capacity of about 800 barrels/day. Most of its crude oil is exported to generate export income, and is not used to generate electricity. Although Vietnam is able to meet most of its needs through its own resources, it consumes more electricity than it produces (approximately six billion KWh/a). Open sources indicate that increasing exports of manufactured goods and a corresponding growth in the industrial sector (16% since 2003) will lead to a greater energy shortfall beyond the next decade--between 35 and 65 billion KWh/year after 2020. As a signatory to the Kyoto Treaty and other regional environmental accords, and seeking an alternative to its stretched hydroelectric resources, Vietnam is looking for a means to increase energy production while minimizing emissions of greenhouse gases.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 899433
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-TR-227253; TRN: US0702015
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
02 PETROLEUM
09 BIOMASS FUELS
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
ATOMS
BIOMASS
COAL
CROPS
ELECTRICITY
EXPORTS
FOSSIL FUELS
GREENHOUSE GASES
IAEA
INCOME
INDUSTRY
MUTANTS
PETROLEUM
REFINING
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
RESEARCH REACTORS
RICE
STRAINS
US ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION