Vĩnh Trường Village is the planned location for the Ninh Thuận No 1 nuclear power plant. — Photo tienphong.vn

NINH THUẬN — The southern province of Ninh Thuận was chosen to build the first two nuclear power plants in Việt Nam and most of the locals agree with the strategic project.

On November 30 last year the National Assembly (NA) passed a resolution agreeing the investment policy of the Ninh Thuận nuclear power project.

The project will restart after eight years of suspension.

Fifteen years ago, in 2009, the project was first approved by the NA with a total capacity of 4,000MW, divided into two plants on an area of ​​1,642ha in Vĩnh Hải Commune, Ninh Hải District and Phước Dinh Commune, Thuận Nam District.

Locations chosen for the Ninh Thuận No 1 and 2 nuclear power plants had been carefully surveyed and evaluated by domestic and foreign consulting units, who determined that they are the best locations which meet all necessary criteria.

However, in 2016, the NA issued a resolution to temporarily suspend the project due to many reasons.

Looking forward

At the relaunch of the project, local people expressed their excitement and high consensus for the common benefit of the country.

They hope that the project will soon be deployed and put into operation.

Nguyễn Văn Thắng, Head of Vĩnh Trường Village, Phước Dinh Commune, where the Ninh Thuận No 1 nuclear power plant is due to be built, said, when hearing about the restart, he and the people in the village all agreed and supported it.

“This is a major, necessary and extremely important policy for the development of the nation. We hope that the project will be implemented synchronously soon, and expect that it will bring about strong changes and growth for the locality and the country in the new period,” said Thắng.

Vĩnh Trường Village has 310 households with 1,000 people, with the villagers mainly working in aquaculture and fishing.

Thắng hopes that when the project is restarted, the Government will have appropriate resettlement and job conversion policies to stabilise the people’s lives.

Thái An Village has been chosen for the Ninh Thuận No 2 nuclear power plant. — Photo tienphong.vn

Thái An Village in Vĩnh Hải Commune, where the Ninh Thuận No 2 nuclear power plant is being built, is a famous grape and garlic growing area of ​​Ninh Thuận Province.

Those plants have brought local people a prosperous and comfortable life for generations.

Director of the Thái An Grape Cooperative Nguyễn Khắc Phong said: “Fifteen years ago, I agreed and supported the policy of building nuclear power plants and this time is the same. I think simply that all are for the common development of the country and also feel proud because my locality was chosen to build a very large project of the nation”.

But Phong and many others are concerned about whether the new resettlement location will be better than what they have currently and whether any new jobs will be as good.

Because local people have worked the land for generations, it is very fertile, thanks to grape and garlic growing.

In addition, over recent years they have seen a growth in local tourism, with people excited to invest in expanding production and businesses.

"Therefore, when giving up land for projects to move to new places, people really need proper attention from the State," said Phong.

Announcing details at a press conference at the end of last year, the Ninh Thuận Provincial Party Committee said that more than 90 per cent of people in the planning area for the Ninh Thuận No 1 and 2 nuclear power plants agreed with the project.

They hope the plants will soon set up a specific roadmap for when things will happen and select highly qualified contractors to ensure safety and have suitable support policies for them.

Ready

Director of the Ninh Thuận Department of Planning and Investment Lê Kim Hoàng said that restarting the project would leave an impact on the province’s planning and socio-economic development plan.

Therefore, the province will update its master plan, rearranging coastal space and regional planning to ensure consistency and synchronisation with the nuclear power plants.

The provincial People's Committee also proposed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to have a scheme for the project implementation so that the locality can recalculate its land use area and carry out compensation and resettlement for the people.

Chairman of the Ninh Thuận Provincial People's Committee Trần Quốc Nam said: "This is a driving force and an opportunity for the nation to move forward and also bears an important significance to the province’s socio-economic development." — VNS