HANOI, Nov. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Officials and experts from eight Asian countries met here on Wednesday to share information and experiences in safely and peacefully using nuclear energy, especially nuclear power.

    "At present, a large number of people remain hesitant about or opposed to the strengthening use of nuclear energy. Therefore, it is necessary to openly and objectively discuss concerns that prevent the acceptance of nuclear energy," said Deputy Minister of Science and Technology of Vietnam Hoang Van Huay in addressing the opening of a seminar on public information strategies for developing nuclear power.

    At the seminar, Shen Tian, representative of the China Atomic Energy Agency (CAEA), presented ways China has taken to gain public acceptance of nuclear energy, noting that "many people in China could understand nuclear power and support the construction of nuclear power plants."

    He said at the local level, operators of nuclear power plants usually set up a department of public relations to deal with public acceptance issues, build exhibition rooms to show advantages of nuclear energy, give public lectures about plants' operation, allow people to visit the plants, and disseminate nuclear information via mass media.

    On the seminar's sidelines, director of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission Vuong Huu Tan, told Xinhua that Vietnam plans tostart constructing its first nuclear power plant with a capacity of 2,000 MW with investment of three billion US dollars either in central Ninh Thuan province or Phu Yen province in 2013.

    "We will have to import all fuel rods and equipment for the first plant with two reactors, but will strive to locally produce them for following reactors and plants. Potential foreign suppliers are France, the United States, Japan, Russia and Canada," he revealed.

    The seminar was attended by more than 100 delegates from eight countries, members of the Forum for Nuclear Cooperation in Asia (FNCA), namely China, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia and host Vietnam. Enditem