Vietnam scraps nuclear plans over safety fears and cost overruns
Hanoi — Vietnam is scrapping plans to build two nuclear power plants over soaring costs and safety concerns, state media reported Friday. The communist nation approved plans to build the plants in 2009 in Ninh Thuan province with an eye towards easing energy shortages brought about by its rapidly industrialising economy. They were slated to have a capacity of 4,000MW, developed with assistance from Russia’s Rosatom and a Japanese consortium, and would have been the first nuclear plants in Southeast Asia. But state-run media reported that the government has asked Vietnam’s rubber stamp parliament to suspend the projects. "The total investment has risen too high," Le Hong Tinh, deputy head of Vietnam’s Commission of Science, Technology and Environment, was quoted as saying by the Tien Phong newspaper. He said the proposed cost for both plants had doubled since 2009 to an estimated $18bn, as the government sought more advanced technology following Japan’s deadly Fukushima nuclear disas...
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