Flamanville, one of the most modern nuclear power plants in Europe.
The International Conference on Approaching Civil Nuclear Power took place in Paris in early March 2010, drawing top nuclear scientists from over 60 countries, including Vietnam, and officials of international organizations like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The host country attached importance to this event, which was attended by President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon at its opening and closing ceremonies.
With six round-table talks and various side-line activities, the conference was a chance for countries preparing to develop nuclear power to learn from nuclear powers, especially the host country, France.
In his opening speech, the French President proudly spoke about France as a cradle for the atomic sciences and its leading civil nuclear energy technology in the world.
French scientists Henri Becquerel discovered radioactive rays and phenomena in 1896. France is also the home of many other important discoveries for the nuclear industry, including research of radiation by Marie and Pierre Curie, who won the Nobel Prize for their work in 1903, and Marie Curie’s discovery of radium and polonium in 1911, which garnered a second Nobel Prize.
In 1935, Frederic Joliot Curie and Irène Joliot Curie won a Nobel Prize for their discovery of artificial radioactivity. This couple also contributed to the construction of the first nuclear pile in France in 1948, one of the first in the world.
The French President also introduced his country’s modern nuclear industry with 58 piles, which satisfies 80 percent of France’s demand for electricity. This country has third-generation piles and is willing to cooperate with other countries.
Sarkozy suggested seven measures for “resuming” the nuclear power industry in the world, including: financial solutions, nuclear power projects, human resources training, nuclear security and safety, nuclear weapon deterrence, nuclear fuel and cooperation to deal with burnt fuels and radioactive waste.
For a developing country like Vietnam, the most significant issues are finance and human resource training.
Sarkozy talked about difficulties that developing countries have to face in developing nuclear power because international financial institutions don’t fund nuclear power projects, so developing countries must pay high costs to develop other technologies that harm the environment more than nuclear power.
He asked the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and other banks to provide capital for nuclear power projects. He also suggested power projects be exempt from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
Many international delegates agreed with his points.
Over 60 countries sent their ministers and high-ranking experts to this conference. Among them, over 20, including Vietnam, plan to put their first nuclear power plants into operation. Human resource training for the nuclear power industry is an urgent task ahead, and the French President delivered a very clear message: France is willing to open its doors to foreign students to study nuclear energy.
Many foreign students from countries like Vietnam have arrived in France to get Bachelor’s, Master’s, and doctoral degrees in nuclear power. Last year, the French Nuclear Power Committee had over 1000 foreign post-graduate students.
France will establish the International Nuclear Energy Institute, including the International Nuclear Energy School, which will employ the best lecturers and researchers. This institute will have branches in some other countries.
Vietnam also studied human resource training for the nuclear energy industry from other countries in a round-table talk on this issue.