Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant to be inaugurated on Oct 5

The commissioning ceremony of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) will be inaugurated on October 5.

With the establishment of the Rooppur nuclear power plant, Bangladesh will become the 33rd nuclear power-using country in the world.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Russian President Vladimir Putin will launch the inaugural programme virtually, a press note from the Prime Minister's Office said.

Also, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi is scheduled to come to join the event.

However, it has been learnt that he too may join the event virtually. Likely to be present at Rooppur are minister for science and technology Yeafesh Osman and Russian state-run atomic energy company Rosatom’s director general Alexei Likhachev.

Earlier on Sep 28, the first batch of fresh uranium, the nuclear fuel of the first unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, arrived in Bangladesh.

The nuclear fuel was brought to Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka by a special plane from a factory in Russia.

The uranium that has been brought to Bangladesh will not be used now, but stored at Rooppur. The Rooppur authorities want to start test transmission to the national grid from the power plant’s first unit next year. They hope to start commercial transmission of power the same year.

Divisional head of Rooppur nuclear power plant project Alok Chakrabarty said through the handover event to be joined by the prime minister and the Russian president, Bangladesh will become the 33rd among countries of the world using nuclear power for peaceful purposes.

According to the World Nuclear Association website, the countries using nuclear energy include the US, China, France, Russia, South Korea, Canada, Ukraine, Germany, Japan, Spain Sweden, Belgium, UK, India, Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Hungary, Slovakia, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Romania, Argentina, United Arab Emirates, Belarus, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Iran and Armenia.

The Rooppur nuclear power plant is the country’s largest single project. Its construction costs are USD 13.5 billion (USD 1350 crore), which at present market value is equivalent to Tk 1 lakh 48 thousand 500 crore (at Tk 110 per dollar). Russia is providing 80 percent of this cost as credit.

The Atomic Energy Commission, under the science and technology ministry, is implementing the Rooppur nuclear power plant project. The Russian contractor Atomstroyexport is constructing two 1200 MW units under this project. The nuclear fuel is being produced by Rosatom’s associate company TVEL Fuel. Various countries around the world purchase nuclear fuel from them.

Initiative was first taken for the Rooppur nuclear power plant back in 1961. Since then on, at various times, preparatory work had been taken up on the project.

Then in 2013, during prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Russia, a loan agreement for the Rooppur nuclear power project was signed. On the same year, the first phase of the Rooppur nuclear power plant was taken up. Work on the project was officially inaugurated on 2 October 2013.

The power plants is being inaugurated in the village Rooppur of Pakshi union of Ishwardi upazila, Pabna.

Professor of Dhaka University’s nuclear engineering department, Shafiqul Islam, said, the arrival of uranium in Bangladesh has been a milestone for the Rooppur project. But it is not that electricity will be available very soon.'

'Power generation will begin only after various tests and preparations are untertaken. If power can be generated with all safety ensured, nuclear power is cost-effective and environment-friendly,' he added.

He also said, nuclear power is actually more political than technical.