From 25 to 29 May 2009, in Hanoi, the Training course on Nuclear reactor safey was held by the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear safety (VARANS) in collaboration with United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC).

The Course’s participants were representatives of Nuclear Power and Renewable Energy Project Pre-Investment Board (NRPB) and Institute of Energy (IE)  under Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), Department of Legislation – Ministry of Science and Technology, Dalat Nuclear Research Institute and staffs of VARANS. On behalf of organizers, VARANS Deputy Director General Le Quang Hiep gave an opening speech and introduced the Course’s participants, two main lecturers including Ph.D David Squarer and Ph.D Gene Imbro from Advanced Systems Technology and Management (AdSTM,Inc.), assistant lecturer Mr. Wilbert Leotwane – principal specialist from National Nuclear Regulator of South Africa.

According to the training subjects, most of the lectures focus on fundamentals of reactor safety and regulation, siting requirements for nuclear reactors. These basic concepts are important and necessary to be captured especially by staffs working and studying in the field of atomic energy of Vietnam. In the near future, these valuable experience and lessons will be useful for Vietnamese experts when a new nuclear reactor is scheduled to replace Dalat nuclear reactor and the first nuclear power plan installation at Ninh Thuan province is in progress.

During the training course, Vietnamese staffs discussed freely with US experts on relevant issues and listened to their explanation of concerns about management of regulators, sharing experience on safety document review, analysing and selecting the right site for new nuclear generation, etc.,

At the end of the Course, all participants have received the certificate of training issued by USNRC and VARANS. On behalf of participants, Director of Nuclear Safety of VARANS Mr. Nguyen Nam Giang acknowledged the US experts and highly appreciated the practical meaning of the Course, considered it a good chance for Vietnamese staffs to improve their fundametal knowledge on safety. Hopefully, such a training course will be held more often in next time.