The Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute yesterday conducted a drill in response to a potential nuclear radiation resulted from a fire at the Da Lat nuclear reactor in Da Lat city, Lam Dong Province. The event, the first of its kind so far, took place at the reactor, run by the Da Lat Nuclear Research Institute, on Sunday morning, with the attendance of more than 100 experts and engineers of the Institute and firefighters from the provincial Fire Prevention and Control Police Department. The rehearsal was based on a scenario that a fire and explosion had suddenly broken out in the premises, where a reactor was operating at its maximum capacity of 500kW. The fire was assumed to be caused by a damaged electric device. The fire grew, with high columns of smoke spreading rapidly to the outside of the premises and to the area where radioactive isotopes are prepared and then to other areas. As soon as the incident occurred, the rector of the institute immediately ordered the halt of the reactor, announced a state of emergency, contacted the provincial fire brigade, and checked for signs of radioactive leaks. After putting out the fire, radiation safety officers and other related experts entered the scene and checked for signs of surface and air radioactivity to make a fast report before carrying out the next steps.

A staff of the reactor wearing anti-nuclear radiation clothing

After checking, concerned agencies concluded that there was no radioactive leak from the reactor to the environment. Through the drill, experts were able to find weaknesses or defections, if any, in the existing plan of coping with such an event so that the Institute can take actions to correct them to improve the protection of the reactor, the institute said. The Da Lat nuclear reactor, which is used to conduct nuclear and neutron physics research, was built in 1960 with American assistance. From 1974 to 1975 when the Vietnam War accelerated, the reactor’s fuel bars were removed and transferred to the US. The reactor was restored in 1982 with assistance from the former Soviet Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency and began operating two years later. The reactor is the only one in Vietnam now.

 Important nuclear documents are removed to a safe place  

A victim suffocated by the smoke from the fire is taken out of the reactor area  

 An engineer is checked for signs of radiation before getting out of the scene of the incident