Resolution 189/2025/QH15 special policies on the construction of the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project

RESOLUTION

On a number of special mechanisms and policies on investment in the construction of the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project^[1]

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

Pursuant to Law No. 57/2014/QH13 on Organization of the National Assembly, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Law No. 65/2020/QH14 and Law No. 62/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the National Assembly’s Resolution No. 174/2024/QH15 of November 30, 2024, on the 8^th session of the 15^th National Assembly;

In consideration of the Government’s Proposal No. 74/TTr-CP of May 8, 2025, and Report No. 3247/BC-UBKHCNMT15 of February 13, 2025, of the National Assembly’s Committee for Science, Technology and Environment, on verification of the Government’s Proposal on particular mechanisms and policies on investment in the construction of the Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant, and National Assembly deputies’ opinions;

RESOLVES:

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Resolution provides a number of special mechanisms and policies on investment in the construction of the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project, including Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant and Ninh Thuan 2 nuclear power plant and component projects (below referred to as the Project) and a number of special mechanisms and policies applicable to Ninh Thuan province to implement the Project.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. State agencies, Ninh Thuan province;

2. Project owners and units assigned the project preparation task;

3. Other related organizations and individuals.

Article 3. Special mechanisms and policies

The Project shall be entitled to application of the following special mechanisms and policies:

1. To conduct negotiation with partners with whom treaties have been signed or other partners to sign treaties on cooperation in construction and credit extension for the Project, in parallel with the process of adjusting the investment policy and approving the investment project.

2. Selection of investors and contractors

a/ The Prime Minister shall assign project owners to implement projects;

b/ The method of contractor appointment according to the fast-track procedures shall be applied to the turnkey bidding package for construction of the main plants with the contractors in the relevant treaties. The scope of jobs under a turnkey contract includes jobs as prescribed by the construction law, as well as the preparation of a location approval dossier, purchase of insurance for the entire contract (it is permitted to purchase insurance from a foreign insurer without a branch granted an establishment and operation license in Vietnam), supply of nuclear fuel, and operation and maintenance of the plant for 5 years from the date the plant is put into operation;

c/ The method of contractor appointment according to the fast-track procedures shall be applied to important bidding packages for consultancy service provision during the investment preparation and project implementation phases, including: formulating and appraising prefeasibility study reports; providing consultancy and assisting project owners in negotiation, conclusion and management of turnkey contracts; appraising location approval dossiers; appraising feasibility study reports for the work construction investment, technical designs, construction drawing designs and specialized reports in accordance with relevant laws; and providing consultancy in project management and construction supervision;

d/ The method of contractor appointment according to the fast-track procedures shall be applied to the bidding packages for technology, safety and security appraisal, and inspection of nuclear regulatory compliance during the construction investment phases of the Project on the basis of effective use of domestic and international experts and organizations;

dd/ The order and procedures for contractor appointment according to the fast-track procedures must comply with the bidding law.

3. Implementation process

a/ To carry out the following tasks in parallel with the negotiation for treaties and turnkey contracts:

(i) Preparing and appraising prefeasibility study reports;

(ii) Surveying, reviewing, updating, and completing location approval dossiers, dossiers for formulation of feasibility study reports for the work construction investment, and specialized reports in accordance with relevant laws;

b/ To implement jobs to be performed before making decision on investment in the construction of the Project, including:

(i) Surveying, formulating, inspecting and appraising the technical designs and specialized reports in accordance with relevant laws;

(ii) Conducting mine clearance, explosive defusion, and disposal of hazardous chemicals;

(iii) Conducting site leveling in the main plant areas, including: surveying, formulating, inspecting, appraising, and approving the construction drawing designs by the single-step design method and cost estimates for work construction; selecting contractors and deploying work construction. The project owners shall appraise and approve the construction drawing designs and cost estimates;

(iv) Building power and water supply infrastructure facilities for work construction, project owners’ on-site project management offices, monitoring and measurement systems, telecommunication infrastructure, and roads for access to the plants.

4. It is permitted to apply technical regulations, standards, regulations and technical instructions proposed by the partners to the Project but it is required to ensure that the to-be-applied contents conform with Vietnam’s conditions, are not lower than relevant Vietnamese standards and technical regulations (if any), and aligned with the safety standards and security instructions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

5. The Prime Minister shall decide on the application of norms and unit prices based on negotiation with the implementing partners.

6. Project owners are not required to carry out procedures to submit to the state owner’s representative for approval contents related to the investment projects, capital mobilization plans, or asset pledges for loan borrowing in accordance with the Law on Management and Use of State Capital Invested in Production and Business at Enterprises.

7. Financial plans and capital arrangement

a/ To negotiate with the partners’ Governments to arrange capital for the Project according to its capital demands and as committed by foreign donors; it is permitted to apply foreign donors’ regulations in case Vietnam does not have such regulations or Vietnam’s regulations are different from those of donors; project owners that are  eligible for loan borrowing and satisfy the conditions for on-lending by the method of non-incurrence of credit risks by the on-lending agency, shall not be required to carry out the procedures for formulation and proposal of ODA- or concessional loan-funded programs or projects. During the Project implementation, the Prime Minister may decide to use funds from the sources of increased revenues and saved expenditures of the central budget, and other lawful sources to finance the Project in case the negotiation of loan agreements fails or loan amounts are not sufficient;

b/ Project owners may arrange counterpart capital from loans, corporate bonds, capital on-lent from government bonds or project-specific bonds issued by the Government, or government-guaranteed bonds with the on-lending terms complying with the lending terms of the bond issuance amount, the Project’s repayment capacity, and the Law on Public Debt Management;

c/ Domestic commercial banks shall be exempt from applying regulations on the total outstanding loan balance applicable to project owners/project owners and related persons specified in Clause 1, Article 136 of the Law on Credit Institutions so as to provide loans in excess of the law-prescribed limits for implementing the counterpart fund portion; and such loans shall not be included in the project owners’ total outstanding loan balance at the commercial banks as specified in Clause 3, Article 136 of the Law on Credit Institutions, thus they will not affect capital arrangement for other projects of the project owners;

d/ Outstanding loan balances and bond debts related to the Project (including both construction investment and operation phases) shall not be included when calculating the debt-to-equity ratio of the project owners, thus they will not affect capital arrangement for other projects of the project owners;

dd/ The Prime Minister shall decide on the policy on increasing the project owners’ charter capital from the source of re-valuation of fully depreciated assets of BOT power plants that have been handed over and multi-purpose hydropower plants to implement the Project with an additional capital level equivalent to the capital level of national important projects;

e/ Agencies competent or authorized to on-lend ODA capital and foreign concessional loans shall not be required to carry out the procedure for appraising project owners’ eligibility for on-lending specified in Clause 3, Article 36 of the Law on Public Debt Management;

g/ Investment project implementation security measures prescribed by the Law on Investment shall be exempt.

8. It is not required to carry out the procedures for approving the forest repurposing policy but to adhere to the principle of minimizing the repurposing of forests, especially natural forests, in accordance with the Law on Forestry.

9. Ninh Thuan province

a/ Annually, the central budget shall provide target transfers to the provincial budget an amount equaling 70% of the increased revenue generated from the Project implementation, provided that such amount must not exceed the total increase of the central budget revenues in the locality compared to the previous year and the central budget does not suffer undercollection of revenues;

b/ The province shall be allowed to borrow on-lent ODA and foreign concessional loans, with the total outstanding loan not exceeding 90% of the province’s budget revenue as decentralized. The province’s total annual loan and budget deficit amounts shall be determined by the National Assembly in accordance with the Law on the State Budget;

c/ The province shall receive an additional allocation of 40% of its expenditures calculated based on the population-based expenditure norm when formulating the recurrent state budget expenditure norm;

d/ The head of the competent agency may decide on the application of the contractor appointment method to the bidding packages of consultancy service, non-consultancy service, procurement, and construction and installation for compensation, support, and resettlement work in service of the Project implementation. The order and procedures for contractor appointment must comply with the bidding law;

dd/ The province shall be licensed for exploitation of minerals for use as common construction materials as identified in the construction material survey dossier serving the Project:

- To be licensed for exploiting minerals for use as common construction materials without auction of mining rights; for mines of common construction materials that have been included in mining rights auction plans, it is permitted to adjust such plans and remove these mines from the auction plans for grant of mining licenses without auction of mining rights;

- For mines of common construction materials (excluding riverbed sand and gravel) for which mining licenses have been granted and which are in operation, if the mining period has not yet expired, it is permitted to increase at most 50% of the mining capacity stated in the mining licenses (without increasing the licensed reserves), without having to carry out procedures for submission to competent state management agencies for decision on, or approval of, the adjusted investment project policy, appraisal and approval of the results of appraisal of environmental impact assessment reports, environmental licensing or registration, provided occupational safety and environmental protection requirements are met. After the Project’s demand for materials is fulfilled, licensed enterprises shall continue exploitation activities according to the capacity stated in the granted mining licenses;

- For minerals used as common construction materials, in case it is required to grant a new mining license to meet the Project’s demands, the particular licensing mechanism  similar to the mechanism applicable to group-IV minerals (specified at Point a, Clause 2 Article 72 and Points c and d, Clause 2, Article 73 of the Law on Geology and Minerals) shall apply;

e/ The provincial budget shall be entitled to enjoy 100% of revenues from carbon credit transactions, which shall not be used to determine the percentage (%) for revenues divided between the central budget and the provincial budget;

g/ The compensation, support, and resettlement level upon land recovery for the Project implementation shall equal the highest level multiplied (x) by 1.5;

h/ Compensation, support, and resettlement upon land recovery for the Project implementation for land users that have not yet granted a certificate of land use rights or ownership of assets attached to land but are eligible for grant of such certificate shall be similar to those applicable to land users having been granted such certificate;

i/ The province is permitted to carry out the compensation, support, and resettlement work simultaneously with the adjustment of projects on migration and resettlement serving the Project implementation;

10. It is not required to carry out procedures for adjustment of the national mineral reserve areas and the national mineral reserve durations, the planning areas for exploration, exploitation, processing and use of minerals approved and issued by competent authorities in case the areas for implementing the Project overlap the national mineral reserve areas and the planning areas for exploration, exploitation, processing and use of minerals.

11. During the Project’s preparation and implementation phases, in case there appears an overlap among master plans subject to the National Assembly’s decision, the Project shall be implemented in accordance with the National Power Development Plan and updated to ensure the consistency among master plans subject to the National Assembly’s decision;

12. Mechanisms and policies to ensure the prevention and control of corruption,  waste and negative practices:

a/ The Prime Minister shall establish a working group composed of the representatives of the Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Finance, Government Inspectorate of Vietnam, State Audit Office of Vietnam, and related ministries and agencies to regularly monitor and supervise the implementation of the bidding packages specified at Points b, c, and d, Clause 2 of this Article;

b/ The project owners of Ninh Thuan 1 and Ninh Thuan 2 nuclear power plants shall submit draft turnkey contracts for the construction of the main plants to the State Audit Office of Vietnam for auditing, which will serve as the basis for signing the contracts. The State Audit Office of Vietnam shall send the audit results to the authority competent to sign the turnkey contracts within 30 days after receiving the audit request, enclosed with the contracts, ensuring the Project’s implementation progress;

c/ Heads of agencies and units, cadres, civil servants and public employees participating in the formulation and promulgation of the mechanisms and policies specified in this Resolution are considered for exemption or reduction of liability in accordance with the Party’s regulations and law.

13. General contractors and contractors are encouraged to prioritize domestically available goods, products, and services for their bidding packages; for bidding packages opened for international bidding, the bidding dossiers must include a requirement on foreign general contractors’ and contractors’ transfer of technologies and training of human resources for the Vietnamese partners for the latter to master the management and operation process and gradually master the technologies.

14. During a recess of the National Assembly, the National Assembly shall authorize the National Assembly Standing Committee to:

a/ Consider and decide on adjustments to the Project’s investment policy, except the increase of the Project’s total investment amount;

b/ Supplement and adjust special mechanisms and policies for projects.

Article 4. Organization of implementation

1. The Government shall:

a/ Organize the implementation and management of investment in projects in accordance with this Resolution and relevant laws; ensure the schedule and quality of projects; report as requested by competent authorities; and at the same time, promptly implement the Project;

b/ Manage and use capital and resources, manage other related activities to ensure thrift, efficiency, prevention and control of corruption, waste and negative practices, ensure national defense, security, social order and safety, radiation safety, and environmental protection in accordance with this Resolution and relevant laws; and provide sufficient information to citizens for realization and reaching consensus on the Project’s investment policy;

c/ Organize the negotiations of treaties with partners on the basis of respect for each other’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and conformity with the Constitution, Vietnam’s law and treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party;

d/ Direct the organization of management, operation, exploitation, and maintenance to ensure safety and efficiency;

dd/ Organize, within the ambit of its tasks and powers, the implementation of this Resolution; carry out 3-year preliminary review of implementation of this Resolution and report thereon to the National Assembly at the 2028 year-end session; and carry out the final review of the implementation of this Resolution and report thereon to the National Assembly at the nearest session after the Project is put into operation.

2. During the implementation process, if any issues related to mechanisms, policies arise or mechanisms and policies are deemed inappropriate, the Government shall consider for amendment and supplementation of such mechanisms or policies according to its competence or study and report them to competent authorities for consideration and decision.

3. Ninh Thuan province and the owners of projects under the Project shall be held responsible before the Government for the schedule and quality of their assigned projects.

4. The Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organizations shall, within the ambit of their tasks and powers, carry out public communication and mobilization so as to obtain  consensus on the Project’s investment policy and oversee the implementation of this Resolution.

5. The National Assembly Standing Committee, the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, the Ethnic Council, and other Committees of the National Assembly, the National Assembly deputies’ delegations, and National Assembly deputies shall, within the ambit of their tasks and powers, oversee the implementation of this Resolution.

6. The State Audit Office of Vietnam shall, within the ambit of its tasks and powers, audit the implementation of the Project in accordance with this Resolution.

Article 5. Effect

This Resolution takes effect on the date of its adoption.

This Resolution was adopted on February 19, 2025, by the 15^th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its 9^th session.-

Chairman of the National Assembly
TRAN THANH MAN