Experiences in state of emergency mechanisms for dealing with nuclear radiation were shared during an event jointly organised by the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety and the Office of Nuclear Energy under the US Department of Energy in Ninh Thuan province on August 25-26.

In the workshop, McClelland, an expert in the US department’s National Nuclear Security Administration, gave an overview of the US ’s preparations for nuclear radiation incidents and introduced the country’s state of emergency mechanism as a response to nuclear radiation. He also explained the Robert T.Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) and the revised Atomic Energy Act to the participants.

According to McClelland, a unified and effective national response programme is not possible without active participation and coordination across sectors at all levels. He noted that local authorities in particular need to play a leading role.

The Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety presented Vietnam ’s progress in developing a nuclear and radiation incident response plan, with the aim of establishing a comprehensive organisational structure that strengthens the coordination between relevant agencies in order to deal with the incidents in a timely manner and thus minimise the impact on human lives and property.

The central province of Ninh Thuan will house Vietnam ’s first nuclear power plant, to be designed by Russian groups and put into operation between 2023 and 2024. The nuclear plant will have a total capacity of 2,000 MW from two turbines.-VNA