Vietnam has reaffirmed its intent to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology hosted an international conference on global nuclear power development and security Tuesday in the capital Hanoi.
In view of Japan's Fukushima accident in March 2011, officials stressed that their goal is responsible use of clean nuclear power and ensuring power security and safety.
The conference was organized in collaboration with Britain's Nuclear Energy Agency and the World Nuclear Association.
Vietnam's news agency said Tuesday the country's first nuclear power plant is scheduled to be operational in 2020.
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Vietnam has been discussing plans to develop nuclear energy for the past decades, mostly with Japan and Russia. In 2010, Japan won contracts to build two reactors in Vietnam.
During a visit to Tokyo in October, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told Japanese officials that he wants the Fukushima disaster to serve as a basis for building the world's safest nuclear facilities.