The 8th National Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology opened in the coastal city of Nha Trang , in the central province of Khanh Hoa , on August 20.

The biennial event has drawn more than 240 domestic and foreign experts who will present 225 reports on nuclear technology. Among them are leading experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the RCA Regional Office and countries with an advanced nuclear industry such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, France, the US and Bulgaria.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Dinh Tien saw strong potential for the application of nuclear technology in five sectors in the country, including medicine, agriculture, industry, nuclear power and the environment. Learning from existing scientific research in the field will help develop nuclear science in Vietnam , thus boosting national development, he said.

He noted, however, that scientific and technological development programmes should have specific roadmaps to coordinate efforts to inaugurate the country’s first nuclear power plant in the central province of Ninh Thuan in 2020.

The event, jointly organised by the Vietnam Atomic Energy Society (VAES), the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (VAEI) and the provincial Department of Science and Technology, will last until August 22./.