Viet Nam and the US on May 6 officially signed a bilateral agreement on using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, which marks an important step in the trusted partnership between the two countries in the realm.

The signing ceremony (Source: VNA)

Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan and US Ambassador to Viet Nam David Shear inked the accord, which is called the 123 Agreement.

This pact was initialed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and the US Secretary of State John Kerry on October 10 last year as part of the 23^rd ASEAN summit in Brunei.

The agreement takes its inspiration from the spirit of Section 123 of the United States Atomic Energy Act of 1954, titled “Cooperation with Other Nations”. It aims to create a legal framework for enhancing cooperation between Viet Nam and its US partners in research, training, development and application of nuclear energy, especially in the Southeast Asian nation.

The 30-year deal will open up great prospects for both countries to expedite specific cooperation projects in radiation application and the development of nuclear power for the socio-economic growth of each country, said Minister Quan.

Viet Nam is pursuing nuclear power to deal with its present shortage of energy, and this source is hoped to meet over 10 percent of the national power demand by 2030.

Its nuclear power market is estimated as the second largest in Southeast Asia with an estimated turnover of 50 billion USD in the next two decades, preceded only by China.

(Source: VNA)