People in the central province of Ninh Thuan should support the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant for its future development, said State President Nguyen Minh Triet.

President Triet stated this during a field trip on July 8 to the sites planned for the nuclear power station in Ninh Thuan province, where he was briefed on the preparations. He found out about how human resources were developing and about the plans to build roads and electricity and water supplies for the project.

After inspecting the sites, the State leader met with and presented gifts to local people in Vinh Truong hamlet, Phuoc Dinh commune in Thuan Nam district and Thai An hamlet, Vinh Hai commune in Ninh Hai district, where the power station’s two reactors will be built.

The President applauded the backing the local people and administration were giving to the project, saying that their efforts will help to meet the country’s growing demand for power in general and the province in particular.

The construction will see traffic systems, schools and other facilities in the province being developed or upgraded, he added.

The President asked the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) Group – the project’s investor – and the provincial authorities to resettle people who are being relocated quickly and effectively as well as find them jobs.

Vietnam aims to complete the construction of the power station and start operating the first reactor in 2020 and the second reactor a year later. Both reactors will have a combined output of 4,000 MW.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the nation’s demand for power will increase to 294 billion kWh in 2020 and will almost double that to 562 billion kWh by 2030.

More importantly, the supply of raw materials for the electricity industry is expected to be only enough to produce 230 billion kWh by 2020 and 293 billion kWh by 2030./.