Vietnam ’s national nuclear safety council will be set up following a recent decision made by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Under the decision, the council will provide consultancy to the PM to help him and the government settle important issues on nuclear safety.

The council will have a life span of five years and will operate with the authority of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST). Its President will be the Minister of the MoST and its standing agency is to be the Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (ARNS).

The council will propose policies on nuclear safety to the PM and guidelines for working with atomic energy as well as the nuclear power industry’s operational processes. They will also handle special important nuclear problems and issues.

It will assess the ARNS’s report on the assessment and safety analysis of the nuclear power plant after its pilot run and the results of a safety inspection of the plant’s nuclear reactor.

Before a licence is granted to allow testing or starting up the nuclear power plant, it will discuss the operations with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and also gather opinions from foreign and domestic scientists and experts on nuclear safety./.