Vietnam’s use of radio-active technology has created huge growth in
agriculture, medicine, oil and gas production and other industries, said
Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Viet Thanh.
“We
have earned 3 billion USD in revenue from rice production using
high-growth genetically modified varieties in the Mekong Delta region
since 1990. More than 50 genetically modified varieties of rice and
plants were grown on 50 percent of the country’s farm area, 30 percent
of which was exportable rice grown on one million hectares of the Mekong
Delta,” Thanh told a meeting titled National Conference on Atomic
Energy Applications for the Socio-Economic Development on October 23.
Thanh
said Vietnam was among the top eight countries in the world using
atomic energy applications, according to the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA).
Andrey Rozhkov, Head of United Corporation for
Innovations’ Sales Department, an enterprise run by Russia’s Rosatom
State Corporation, said Vietnam was a Southeast Asian market primed to
take advantage of such applications.
“Vietnam is a developing
country and atomic energy can be used for economic growth and
industrialisation. Vietnam and Russia can promote deeper cooperation on
atomic and nuclear energy industry and research. Russia has a strong
base in nuclear energy, and Vietnam and Russia enjoy a longstanding
relationship,” Rozhkov said.
Tamikazu Kume, a technical
consultant with Japan’s Nuclear Safety Research Association, suggested
that Vietnam invest more in research and human-resource training in
nuclear energy and atomic applications.
“Many industries can
benefit from nuclear energy, such as seafood for export, agriculture,
medicine and energy. Vietnam’s rapid development needs a huge support
base and application of atomic energy,” he said.
In Vietnam,
medical treatment and food preservation industries are the biggest users
of atomic energy. Vietnam ranks second in the world in the use of
atomic energy to preserve food – about 66,000 tonnes of foodstuffs and
post-harvest products.
Nguyen Huu Quang, Director of the Centre
for Applications of Nuclear Technique in Industry (CANTI), said Vietnam
had sped up research and application of atomic energy.
“Since
2007, we’ve used research to produce a computed tomography system and an
automatic gamma column scanner and monitor,” Quang said. He added that
the centre now exports the equipment to Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan,
Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Bangladesh.
The two-day
conference features the latest atomic energy research and its
application in agriculture, nuclear power plants, and in medical
treatment projects with the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Japan.
Vietnam
has now approved investment for the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project
and a “Master Plan for Development and Application of Atomic Energy for
Peaceful Purposes”. Both have been approved by the Government to promote
the atomic era.-VNA