Vietnam, U.S. sign nuclear conversion agreement
HANOI - Vietnam has agreed to work with the United States to begin converting a nuclear research reactor to using low-enriched uranium fuel from highly-enriched uranium, state media said on Tuesday.
Vietnam's Atomic Energy Commission also signed an agreement with the
United Nations nuclear watchdog, the
International Atomic Energy Agency, to send any highly-enriched uranium back to Russia, where it was originally imported from, the reports and a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi said.
The statement said U.S. and Vietnam government agencies "recently signed contracts to further enhance security at the Dalat Research Reactor and at three radiological facilities in Vietnam to protect materials that could be used for harmful purposes."
It said the two contracts stem from last November's state visit to Vietnam by
President Bush, the second visit by a U.S. President to Hanoi since the former war enemies established diplomatic relations in 1995.
The U.S.
Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration will administer the project at Dalat, capital of south-central Lam Dong province and the other sites.
Vietnam, which signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in 1982, plans to start building a nuclear power plant in 2015 to help drive the energy-hungry economy.
The Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission says the country will need 2,000 megawatts to 4,000 megawatts of nuclear power from 2017, but does not want to enrich uranium on its soil.
International Atomic Energy Agency director Mohamed ElBaradei said on a visit to Hanoi in December that the communist-run government had involved the agency from the beginning of its nuclear power development.
Reuters - March 19, 2007.
US "to help build Vietnam's first nuclear plant"
HANOI - The United States has pledged to help Vietnam build a nuclear power plant if the country switches to non-weapons-grade uranium in its test reactor, a Vietnamese diplomatic source said Tuesday.
Washington was ready to help its former enemy turned trading partner meet its burgeoning energy needs but wanted to ensure it does not produce high-grade radioactive material that could fall into the wrong hands, the source said.
"The United States doesn't want to have a second
North Korea in the Asia Pacific," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity in Hanoi.
The nuclear issue was a major theme of last week's Washington meeting between US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and Vietnam's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem, the source said.
"The United States agreed with the Vietnamese proposal to help it build its first nuclear power plant in order to meet its rising electricity needs," said the diplomat. "Vietnam lacks power and demand is growing rapidly."
A US embassy official in Hanoi said: "We've had a lot of broad-based discussions about various nuclear issues and providing assistance and cooperation to the Vietnamese, but there is no formal agreement at this point."
Earlier Tuesday, the US said Vietnam had agreed to convert its Soviet-built Dalat research reactor, located about 250 kilometres (150 miles) northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, from high- to low-enriched uranium fuel.
Vietnam would also "move forward with the repatriation of Russian-origin highly enriched uranium fuel" under an agreement with the
International Atomic Energy Agency, said a statement issued by the US embassy.
Agence France Presse - March 20, 2007.
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