Presenting the report, Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung mentioned the need to amend the Law on Atomic Energy. The Minister said: The amendment of the Law on Atomic Energy aims to continue institutionalizing the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies on atomic energy, unifying with other relevant documents and meeting practical requirements; building a legal basis to ensure completeness and comprehensiveness in the system of legal documents on atomic energy; enhancing the effectiveness of state management of radiation safety, nuclear safety and security; developing sustainable applications of atomic energy; implementing Vietnam's international commitments and obligations; enhancing international cooperation; atomic energy contributes to creating new momentum for the country's rapid and sustainable development in the new era.

Overview of the Session. (Photo: National Assembly).

The draft Law on Atomic Energy (amended) consists of 12 Chapters and 73 Articles, built on the basis of closely following the 4 major policies approved by the Government in Resolution 240/NQ-CP dated December 17, 2024 on the November 2024 Law-making Session. The policies include: Promoting the development and socialization of atomic energy applications; ensuring radiation safety, nuclear safety and security, decentralization in state management; facilitating nuclear inspection activities; managing radioactive waste, spent radioactive sources and spent nuclear fuel, responding to radiation incidents, nuclear incidents, and civil liability for nuclear damage.

Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung. (Photo: National Assembly).

On behalf of the review agency, Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment (SC&ET) Le Quang Huy affirmed that the Standing Committee of the SC&ET basically agreed with the necessity of promulgating the Law on Atomic Energy (amended) as proposed by the Government in Submission No. 164/TTr-CP dated April 1, 2025. At the same time, he emphasized a number of important viewpoints and requirements in the process of amending the Law, specifically: (i) Institutionalizing the Party's policy, especially the content on strengthening the country's scientific and technological potential, gradually mastering nuclear power technology; training human resources; improving domestic capacity to localize nuclear power equipment; (ii) Inheriting current laws on atomic energy; amending and supplementing to ensure compliance with IAEA guidelines; reviewing and promptly preparing a large number of documents guiding the implementation of the law, especially those related to nuclear power plants; (iii) Fully specify the 4 policies for drafting the Law approved by the National Assembly...

Regarding the institutionalization of the Party's guidelines and policies and the State's policies, the Standing Committee of the Science, Technology and Environment Committee proposed to strictly implement Regulation No. 178 and fully institutionalize Resolution No. 57 of the Politburo. Regarding the constitutionality, legality, consistency of the draft Law with the legal system and compatibility with international treaties, the Standing Committee of the Science, Technology and Environment Committee proposed to continue reviewing and comparing the provisions of the draft Law with relevant laws to ensure consistency and consistency; continue to review, refer to, and ensure compatibility with international treaties such as the convention on nuclear safety, nuclear security and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, and Vietnam's commitments at the United Nations conferences on climate change.

Chairman of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy. (Photo: National Assembly).

Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy mentioned the issues of development and application of atomic energy; safety and security of nuclear facilities; radioactive waste, used radioactive sources and used nuclear fuel; response to radiation and nuclear incidents; compensation for radiation damage and nuclear damage;

Regarding response to radiation and nuclear incidents, the Standing Committee of the Science, Technology and Environment Committee proposed to continue reviewing and ensuring the completeness and consistency between the contents of radiation and nuclear incident response plans at the grassroots, provincial and national levels, as well as the feasibility and strictness of the plans; ensuring the consistency of the draft Law with the Law on Civil Defense and the draft Law on State of Emergency, and the feasibility of coordination between relevant agencies.

Regarding compensation for radiation damage and nuclear damage, the Standing Committee of the Science, Technology and Environment Committee believes that Vietnam has not yet joined the Nuclear Compensation Convention, so it is necessary to have a policy statement on this issue to have a basis for negotiating and signing related contents. However, compensation for nuclear damage is an international issue; Vietnam does not have practical experience. Therefore, it is recommended that when reviewing and perfecting these regulations, it is necessary to fully refer to the IAEA's guidelines, and widely consult legal experts in the fields of civil law, public law, international justice, and insurance to ensure feasibility. Carefully review and ensure the feasibility of the draft Law with the legal system and international treaties.

Within the framework of the Session, the National Assembly Standing Committee members focused on contributing opinions on the following contents: Decentralization of decision-making authority on investment policy for Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant; ensuring the practicality and feasibility of the draft Law on Atomic Energy (amended); the role and responsibility of State management of relevant agencies and coordination mechanism between parties; safety and security of nuclear facilities; response to radiation and nuclear incidents; simplification of administrative procedures in State management of atomic energy...

Concluding the session, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Le Minh Hoan emphasized that the National Assembly Standing Committee highly appreciated the Government, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment, and other agencies of the National Assembly for actively preparing the dossier of the draft Law on Atomic Energy (amended). The preliminary review report of the draft Law has many new and complicated contents. However, the Government, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment, and agencies of the National Assembly have tried very hard to carry out their tasks.

To ensure the quality of the draft Law on Atomic Energy (amended) submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and comments, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Le Minh Hoan requested the Government to promptly study and absorb the opinions of the Chairman of the National Assembly, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly, the opinions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and the agency in charge of the review to complete the draft Law to be submitted to the National Assembly in the upcoming session. In particular, note the following contents: Ensuring the full and comprehensive institutionalization and concretization of the viewpoints, policies and guidelines of the Party, the Resolutions of the Politburo as well as the National Assembly and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly. In addition, strictly implement Regulation No. 178 dated June 27, 2024 of the Politburo on controlling power, preventing and combating corruption and negativity in law-making work; Carefully review and ensure the feasibility, consistency and consistency of the draft Law with the legal system, international treaties and regulations in the IAEA Atomic Energy Law. In particular, review the compatibility of this Law with a number of related laws such as the Construction Law, Planning Law, Civil Defense Law, etc.

At the meeting, the members of the National Assembly Standing Committee also requested further clarification on the authority, issues not only serving nuclear power plants, but also other areas in social life such as health, agriculture, irradiation issues, high risks of nuclear radiation... The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly requested the Government to direct the drafting agency and relevant agencies to review, research, absorb, and fully and appropriately explain the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the preliminary review opinions of the Standing Committee of the Science, Technology and Environment Committee; the review opinions of the Ethnic Council, and other Committees of the National Assembly to complete the dossier of the draft Law on Atomic Energy (amended); ensure the quality and deadline for submitting documents to the National Assembly, the National Assembly Standing Committee unanimously submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval of the draft Law on Atomic Energy (amended) at the 9th session.