Planned site for the Ninh Thuan 1 Nuclear Power Plant project. Photo: Nguyen Thanh/VNA  

The demand for highly skilled personnel has become increasingly urgent following a series of policies issued by the Party, the National Assembly and the Government to revive and implement the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project, based in central Vietnam.

According to the Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety under the Ministry of Science and Technology, human resources will be among the decisive factors determining whether the country can successfully implement its nuclear power programme on schedule.

Under Vietnam’s strategy for the peaceful development and application of atomic energy to 2035, with a vision towards 2050, nuclear power is expected to account for between 6 and 8% of the country’s total electricity output.

The plan includes the construction of four large-scale nuclear power units and between 10 and 15 small modular reactors (SMRs), requiring a sizeable workforce trained to international standards across the entire nuclear value chain.

According to Nguyen Hoang Linh, director general of the agency, the Ninh Thuan 1 and Ninh Thuan 2 nuclear power plants alone will require around 3,900 workers for direct operations by 2030.
Of those, approximately 670 personnel will need university-level training overseas.

However, experts stress that the demand for human resources extends far beyond plant operations.

Personnel will also be needed in state management, nuclear safety and security regulation, research and development, technical support, education and training, nuclear medicine, radiation technology, radioactive waste management, emergency response, environmental monitoring, as well as industrial and agricultural applications.

The breadth of these requirements underscores the fact that developing nuclear power is not merely a matter of building power plants, but also of establishing a comprehensive, multidisciplinary ecosystem supported by highly qualified professionals capable of integrating into international networks.

To prepare for the programme, the Government has approved a national project on training and developing human resources for nuclear power through 2035, alongside initiatives aimed at strengthening personnel involved in state management, research, applications and technical support in the atomic energy sector.

At the same time, the capacity of state agencies, including the Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, is being enhanced to meet the demands of a new phase of nuclear development.

Specialists have emphasised that workforce development is a prerequisite for achieving the country’s nuclear ambitions and have called for the establishment of an integrated training ecosystem involving government agencies, universities, research institutes, businesses and international partners.

One proposal gaining support is to concentrate resources on five or six core educational institutions rather than dispersing training efforts across a wider network.

Advocates of the approach argue that it would optimise investment costs, improve training quality and gradually enable Vietnam to build domestic expertise in nuclear technology.

Universities and training centres are also being encouraged to update their curricula in line with guidelines from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and expand specialised engineering programmes tailored to the needs of the modern nuclear industry.

Nguyen Quoc Sy, professor at the National Research University “Moscow Power Engineering Institute” in Russia, said joint faculty models with foreign partners could provide an effective solution for Vietnam at the current stage.

Such partnerships would not only create common training standards aligned with international practice but also help develop teaching staff, promote academic exchanges and strengthen research capabilities within Vietnamese institutions.

Experts also believe that Vietnam should strike a balance between overseas education and the development of domestic training capacity. Such an approach would allow the country to access advanced technologies and international expertise while reducing the risk of brain drain and ensuring a stable supply of highly qualified personnel in the long term.

Given the sector’s stringent scientific, technological and safety requirements, preparing a nuclear workforce cannot be achieved overnight.

Observers say training efforts must begin early and be pursued in a coordinated and long-term manner if Vietnam is to realise its goal of developing a safe, efficient and sustainable nuclear power industry in the decades ahead./.