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Vietnam Considers Nuclear Energy; Taiwan Has Second Thoughts on Phase-Out

From Japan's Asahi Shimbun:
Vietnam has nuclear power in its sights as a way to meet the sharp rise in its domestic electricity consumption. The country could see the completion of its first nuclear power plant as early as 2017.

An exploratory committee appointed by the government in 2001 has completed a pre-feasibility study for nuclear power development. The compiled report is now ready to be submitted to Prime Minister Phan Van Khai . . .

Even if the country greatly expands its hydropower and thermal power plants, demand will overtake production capacity, forcing the country to buy power from nearby countries including Laos, China and Cambodia around 2015.

Vietnam therefore plans to have its first nuclear power plant with an electricity generating capacity of 2 million kilowatts running sometime after 2015.

Meanwhile, Taiwan is finding that phasing out nuclear energy will be a lot harder than the country originally anticipated.

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