Bangladesh begins loading fuel at Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant
Dhaka: Bangladesh on Tuesday entered the era of nuclear power generation as the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant started loading fuel into its VVER-1200 reactor – Russia’s latest 3rd generation + pressurized water reactor technology which India is also looking at for future nuclear power projects, including new units at Kudankulam. The fuel loading process for the first unit took place from the plant in Pabna, about 160 kilometers from the capital, Dhaka. Built by Russia’s state-run nuclear company Rosatom, the plant aims to provide 10-12% of the country’s electricity with a capacity of 2.4 GW (2 units x 1,200 MW). The first unit will be officially and legally transferred to Bangladesh for operations before the end of 2026. Being built at a cost of around $13 billion, with Russia providing a government loan covering 90% of that project, the Rooppur NPP will play a vital role in ensuring national energy security, accelerating industrialization and promoting the growth of the technology-based economy, Science and Technology Minister Fakir Mehboob Anam said. The loading phase is the first in the unit’s commissioning phase and will be followed by bringing the reactor up to a constant, controllable power level. Generation will start at low levels and full production is not expected to reach until 2027, officials said. In India, Kudankulam – which already has two Russian VVER 1000 pressurized water reactors in commercial operation since 2014 – will have two additional units – 7 and 8 with larger VVER-1200 reactors – as proposed for the fourth phase of the plant. Last year, Rosatom said that technical specifications for the construction of a new Russian-designed nuclear power plant in India with VVER-1200 reactor units are currently being prepared.
