Bombay Dude
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In Japan's most aggressive move to promote exports of nuclear technology since the Fukushima Daiichi accident in March, a Tokyo-based utility consortium signed a deal with Vietnam on Wednesday to conduct a feasibility study for two new reactors.
The agreement comes as a lifeline to Japan's nuclear industry, which harbors ambitions of expanding abroad, even as its future is in doubt at home. Amid a post-disaster reassessment of energy policy, the government has vowed to reduce dependence on nuclear power for domestic electricity generation. But it has continued to push nuclear technology in overseas markets.
For Vietnam, where rapid economic growth has increased demand for electricity, the contract with Japan Atomic Power Co. offers a way to diversify its energy mix beyond two Russian nuclear reactors currently under construction. The government said last year it plans by 2030 to have 13 nuclear reactors at eight separate plants with a combined capacity of 15,000 megawattsrepresenting 7% of the Vietnam's total generation capacity, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong said Wednesday.
"This important milestone ... shows Vietnam's determination to develop nuclear power plants, especially in the face of global economic difficulties and after the incident at Japan's Fukushima plant," Mr. Vuong said at the signing ceremony in Hanoi.
Lessons from the Fukushima disaster will be taken into account in the Vietnamese project, according to officials from Japan Atomic Power, a consortium of Japan's nine nuclear utilities, including Fukushima Daiichi plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.
"We pledge to work hard to ensure the nuclear power development of Vietnam," said Japan Atomic Power President Yasuo Hamada.
Vietnam, Japan Sign Deal for Nuclear-Plant Study - WSJ.com
The agreement comes as a lifeline to Japan's nuclear industry, which harbors ambitions of expanding abroad, even as its future is in doubt at home. Amid a post-disaster reassessment of energy policy, the government has vowed to reduce dependence on nuclear power for domestic electricity generation. But it has continued to push nuclear technology in overseas markets.
For Vietnam, where rapid economic growth has increased demand for electricity, the contract with Japan Atomic Power Co. offers a way to diversify its energy mix beyond two Russian nuclear reactors currently under construction. The government said last year it plans by 2030 to have 13 nuclear reactors at eight separate plants with a combined capacity of 15,000 megawattsrepresenting 7% of the Vietnam's total generation capacity, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong said Wednesday.
"This important milestone ... shows Vietnam's determination to develop nuclear power plants, especially in the face of global economic difficulties and after the incident at Japan's Fukushima plant," Mr. Vuong said at the signing ceremony in Hanoi.
Lessons from the Fukushima disaster will be taken into account in the Vietnamese project, according to officials from Japan Atomic Power, a consortium of Japan's nine nuclear utilities, including Fukushima Daiichi plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.
"We pledge to work hard to ensure the nuclear power development of Vietnam," said Japan Atomic Power President Yasuo Hamada.
Vietnam, Japan Sign Deal for Nuclear-Plant Study - WSJ.com