Vietnam will start the construction of a nuclear technology center in the Central Highlands which will cost half a billion US dollars in two years, local online Tuoi Tre (Youth) reported on August 16.

Accordingly, the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology has been assigned to steer a project to build the Nuclear Science and Technology Center with consultation from Russian experts.

Funding will come from loans worth 500 million dollars provided by the Russian government. Work on the project will probably begin in late 2015.

The Vietnamese government has approved a plan to put five nuclear power plants into operation in the central region between 2020 and 2030, given forecasts that the country will face a serious shortage of power by 2020.

Construction of the first two plants is expected to begin in late 2014 and be completed by 2020, with power starting to be generated in late 2020.

Vietnam has decided to use Russian technology for the first facility and Japanese expertise for the other, said the report.