Gary Wolski, Vice President of Curtiss-Wright’s nuclear division, said in an article published on the website of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) on Wednesday that Vietnam’s economy has grown steadily at close to  6% per year in recent years. Vietnam plans to generate 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power by 2030, with the first reactors to come on line in the next decade.

Curtiss-Wright isn’t the only US firm that has seen opportunity in Vietnam’s new commitment to nuclear energy. Westinghouse Electric. is opening an office in Hanoi this summer to take advantage of potential business opportunities.

During a recent business trip to Vietnam, David Durham, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s senior vice president and chief commercial officer, was impressed by Vietnam’s fast pace of modernisation. He said Vietnam’s booming economy together with climate change threats is forcing Vietnam to seek carbon-free sources of electricity.