U.S., Vietnam Sign MoU to Prevent Nuclear Smuggling

The U.S. Department of Energy and the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the cooperation to prevent illicit trafficking in special nuclear materials and other radioactive materials.

 

The signing in Hanoi July 2 marked Vietnam’s participation in the U.S. Megaports Initiative, launched in 2003 to deter nuclear smuggling throughout the global maritime network, Kenneth E. Baker, senior official of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), said in a press release issued on the same day.     

 

Under the MoU, the U.S. will install radiation monitoring equipment at Cai Mep Port in Vietnam’s central province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau in a bid to have such equipment installed at 100 seaports worldwide by 2015, Baker said.

 

Baker appreciated Vietnam’s efforts and commitment to keeping dangerous materials out of the hands of terrorists, smugglers and proliferators, contributing to implement President Obama’s nuclear security agenda.

 

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attended a nuclear security summit chaired by Barrack Obama in Washington D.C mid-April.

William Kilmartin who oversees the Megaports Initiative program said the MoU, coming along with a series of both countries’ activities in July to mark the 15^th anniversary of diplomatic relation normalization, is a very good important step for the future ties and nuclear cooperation of the two countries.

 

The Southeast Asian nation plans to build its first two nuclear plants in 2014 and put them into operation in 2020 to meet its rising power demand. (www.vietnamplus.vn) )