Russia’s government will provide Vietnamese students with 70 university scholarships in atomic energy in 2014, Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training informed. The scholarships will cover tuition, accommodation, round-trip airfare, visa fee, medical insurance and monthly allowance, the ministry said, adding that the scholarship recipients must work for Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant in the central province after their graduation.
As many as 240 Vietnamese students have been trained at Russian universities and research institutes specializing in nuclear power, according to the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation of Russia. Vietnam targets to build ten nuclear power plants in the central region with a total capacity of 10,700 MW by 2030. The country has hired Russia and Japan to construct the first two plants Ninh Thuan 1 and Ninh Thuan 2, respectively. The construction of the Russia-designed plant was scheduled in 2014, but has been delayed to an unspecified date due to Vietnam’s unpreparedness.
Vietnam has surged to open numerous courses in atomic energy, and send students in foreign institutions as the country needs thousands of experts and skilled workers in the field by 2020 when the first nuclear power plant goes into operation.(VietnamNet April 9)
