After a decade of preparation, infrastructure development and acquisition of complex technical groundwork, Bangladesh is poised to enter into nuclear power era today (April 28) with the start of uranium fuel loading at the first unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.
The formal inauguration will take place in the afternoon.
To attend the historic event, Director General of Russia’s state nuclear agency Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, is expected to arrive in Dhaka in the with an 18-member delegation.
According to government sources, Alexey will meet Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka before traveling to the Rooppur project site.
Science and Technology Minister Fakir Mahbub Anam along with concerned Russian ministers and high-level representatives will also be present at the event.
The fuel loading had earlier been deferred several times as international safety guidelines and technical benchmarks were yet to be met, sources said.
With those hurdles now overcome, the first unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is ready, with 59 Bangladeshi specialists cleared for operations.
Nuclear Plant office sources said that the fuel loading process will take approximately 45 days to complete.
“If everything proceeds according to plan, at least 300 megawatts of electricity from the first unit will be added to the national grid by the end of July or early August. Full-scale generation of 1,200 megawatts from this unit is expected by the end of the year or early next year,” said secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology Anwar Hossain in the morning,
The project, located along the Padma River in Ishwardi, Pabna, has been implemented at a cost of about $12.65 billion. Built with support from Russia, it incorporates state-of-the-art VVER-1200 reactors. At full capacity, the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will generate 2,400 MW, helping meet a substantial portion of Bangladesh’s electricity needs.