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HANOI: Vietnam's parliament on Wednesday brushed aside criticism and approved building the country's first nuclear power stations, a project keenly watched by potential foreign partners.
The "draft law on nuclear electricity" was approved by 77 percent of deputies present in the single-chamber national assembly, said one deputy critical of the project, Nguyen Minh Thuyet.
He described debate in the chamber as "lively" as some deputies preferred the idea of building just one power station, rather than the plan finally approved for four reactors at two sites.
According to the government's plans, at least one reactor should be operational from 2020. Together, the four reactors should have a capacity of 4,000 megawatts.
As Thuyet recognised, the project has supporters as there are fears the country will suffer energy shortages in future.
With a booming economy, Vietnam's electricity needs are growing by an estimated 15 percent annually on average. Heavy industry, such as the construction sector, is an especially big energy consumer.
The government plan is that nuclear should initially account for under five percent of Vietnam's electricity capacity, but by 2050 should meet as much as 30 percent of the country's power needs.
Critics have objected that the country lacks workers qualified to operate the plants, that legislation is not adequately developed and that there are holes in the planed security guarantees, notably relating to nuclear waste.
Some deputies have also objected on environmental grounds and particularly at the proposed siting of the plants in the southern province of Ninh Thuan, home to a nature reserve known for its sea turtles.
"Vietnam is not yet ready" for a project that carries "significant risks" and for which "the economic rationale is weak," said Thuyet.
According to the online daily VNExpress, the deputies also approved an initial budget of at least 11 billion dollars for the project.
Several foreign countries have shown interest in participating, including Japan, France, Russia and China, and to a lesser extent South Korea and the United States.
Two weeks ago, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung, signed a nuclear cooperation pact. However Dung declined to say which nation would be selected as Vietnam's main nuclear partner. - AFP/de
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