Vietnam's National Assembly has voted to abandon plans to build two nuclear power plants with Russia and Japan, after officials cited lower demand forecasts, rising costs and safety concerns.
The vote Tuesday to scrap the country's first atomic energy project deals a blow to the global nuclear business and to Japan's drive to begin exporting reactors after the Fukushima disaster left its nuclear industry in a deep freeze.
The Vietnamese government said in a statement that the decision, made in a closed session of parliament after discussion of a government proposal, was taken for economic reasons and not because of any technological considerations.