US nuclear firms have asked the Congress to soon ratify a civil nuclear deal with Vietnam, saying the passage will help boost exports and generate more jobs for Americans.
Gary Wolski, Curtiss-Wright’s nuclear division vice president, said Vietnam’s economy has grown steadily at 5-6% annually in recent years. The country plans to generate 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power by 2030, with the first reactors to come on line in the next decade.
“Our growth markets are international. To grow, we must export,” Worski said in an article published on the website of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) on June 18.
Curtiss-Wright isn’t the only US firm that has seen opportunity in Vietnam’s new commitment to nuclear energy. Westinghouse Electric Co. is opening an office in Hanoi this summer to take advantage of potential business opportunities.
During a recent business trip to Vietnam, David Durham, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s senior vice president and chief commercial officer, was impressed by Vietnam’s fast pace of modernisation.
“The country seems to be booming,” he said. “There’s massive construction going on everywhere. You have an emerging nation that’s building brand new airports, highways, bridges, high-rise office buildings, factories.”
“They see the climate change threat; they realize they need carbon-free sources of electricity,” Durham said. “They need big, base load electricity.”
President Barack Obama last month signed a civil nuclear agreement (the 123 agreement) with Vietnam and sent it to Congress for review.
American suppliers hope to benefit as soon as the agreement goes into effect, because the deal will help the US earn between US$10-20 billion worth of exports and generate more than 50,000 jobs.
“If we don’t have a 123 agreement, we can’t play. We’re on the sidelines watching,” Durham said. “If a 123 agreement comes too late, after the competition is over, it’s kind of irrelevant. It needs to be timely and it needs to be long-term, because these are long-term deals.”
On June 9, Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives calling for approval of the agreement.
The same day, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced a joint resolution favouring the proposed agreement. The US Congress will have 90 days to review the nuclear deal with Vietnam.
Source: VOV