Rooppur nuclear power plant construction to continue: Rosatom

The Russian state-owned company Rosatom, in an official statement on Tuesday, said that no disruption is foreseen in any of the commitments and work schedules in the construction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) in Pabna.

Rosatom responded on various inquiries from different media in this regard and the future status of RNPP in the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis and the following developments, it said.

The RNPP is being constructed at Rooppur in Ishwardi with Russian financial assistance.

The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is being constructed at Rooppur, adjoining Paksey, in the Ishwardi upazila in Pabna district, on the bank of the river Padma. It will be the country’s first nuclear power plant, and the first of two units are expected to go into operation in 2023.

The nuclear reactor and critical infrastructure are being built by the Russian Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation. “Non-critical” infrastructure is being built by Bangladeshi and Indian construction companies such as the MAX Group of Bangladesh and the Hindustan Construction Company of India.

In 2016 ground preparation work commenced. The $12.65 billion contract is 90 per cent funded by a loan from the Russian government. The two units generating 2.4 GWe are planned to be operational in 2023 and 2024. Rosatom will operate the units for the first year before handing over to Bangladeshi operators. Russia will supply the nuclear fuel and take back spent nuclear fuel.

Bangladesh started construction of its first nuclear power reactor, Rooppur 1, in November 2017. The unit is scheduled to be commissioned in 2023.

Construction of the second unit at Rooppur commenced in July 2018. The country has a rapidly increasing power demand and is aiming to reduce its dependence on natural gas.