Vietnam affirms efforts to use atomic energy for sustainable development

Vietnamese officials affirmed the country’s consistent efforts to guarantee nuclear safety and security and to apply atomic energy in service of sustainable development during a recent meeting with representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the IAEA Board of Governors’ regular meeting held in Vienna on June 6 - 10, according to the Chemicals Arm under Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence. The Vietnamese officials, including Ambassador Nguyen Trung Kien, Governor - Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the IAEA, and Col.

Nguyen Dinh Hien, Deputy Commander and Chief of the Staff of the Chemicals Arm, appreciated the IAEA’s assistance to its member states, including Vietnam, to apply nuclear technology to responding to global issues and serving sustainable development, especially in the COVID-19 combat. They stressed the need for promoting personnel training as well as bilateral and multilateral cooperation in dealing with radiation and nuclear incidents.

Ambassador Nguyen Trung Kien, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the IAEA, addresses the regular meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna. (Source: VNA)

Vietnam expressed its attention to the application of nuclear energy and technology to such areas as health care, biology, agriculture, industry, and environment so as to boost socio-economic development and improve people’s living standards. It noted that developing nuclear energy will help ensure energy security, particularly amid soaring fossil fuel prices, and realise the international agreements on climate change response and environmental protection to which Vietnam is a party.

The Vietnamese side proposed the IAEA continue helping the country perfect the relevant legal framework and develop nuclear technology to achieve sustainable development, build response plans for nuclear incidents, and train high-quality manpower in this field.

They also called on the agency to step up discussion of the amendment and supplementation of standards for nuclear security, safety, and incident response as nuclear technology is developing strongly at present. For their part, IAEA officials, including Deputy Director General Lydie Evrard, said the agency will always support Vietnam to apply nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The cooperation with Vietnam in some areas like agriculture and pandemic response has proved successful and is a model for the IAEA’s partnerships with other member countries, they went on.

The IAEA said it will send Vietnam’s proposals to its relevant units for consideration, adding that it will organise more cooperation activities to help its members, including Vietnam, improve their readiness for and response to radiation and nuclear incidents in the time ahead, when the COVID-19 pandemic is basically brought under control./.