Viet Nam and Russia worked together on Wednesday, July 17, on how to speed up the progress of building the first nuclear power plant in central Ninh Thuan Province in 2014 as earlier scheduled.

At the meeting with the provincial leader, deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee for Energy Sergei Levchenko said that preparation work for the construction had been too slow, and both sides were to blamed for the issue.

As agreed by the two countries, funds for the project would be disbursed from 2014.

But because technical designs for the plant had not yet been completed, other project tasks were also held up, he said.

Additionally, there has been no agency assigned to co-ordinate the project or contractors selected to complete the supporting projects needed for the plant's construction, which makes capital disbursement for the project difficult.

Therefore, there have been no supporting facilities built to house construction materials and buildings to accommodate specialists and workers once they arrive, said Levchenko.

Secretary of the provincial Party's Committee Nguyen Chi Dung said the province has worked out compensation and site clearance policies and received a high level of agreement from local affected residents.

If the project is held up, it would cause public concern, he said.

Dung stressed that the project needed to begin soon, but the first priority was that a resettlement plan be made to assure those people who could be dislocated.

He also asked for the Russian consultants to clearly indicate the exact areas where the plant is to be built so the local authorities can be ready for the resettlement.

Levchenko said the Russian Duma had urged the design consultants to quicken their work.

He also said the project would need a large number of specialists and workers. A university in Voronhez Province – home to a nuclear power plant – has been ready to work with Ninh Thuan in training plant workers.

During the working session, provincial officials also welcomed further Russian investment in the province.