Despite sanctions against various state organizations of the Russian Federation, the much talked about Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will start functioning timely.
Ministry sources said government is relentlessly working to complete all the work of the country’s first nuclear power plant in schedule time by over coming all the existing barriers due to the Ukraine war.
After returning from Bangladesh, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev also met Russian president Vladimir Putin and discussed about the RNPP, said a twitter post of Russian Embassy in Bangladesh on August 17.
According to the tweet, on August 14, Alexey Likhachev met President Putin in Moscow.
In autumn we will be delivering fuel for Rooppur NPP, so there will be one more country in the world producing nuclear power. We maintain a very comfortable relationship with our partners in Bangladesh, said Alexey Likhachev
During the recent meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation ‘Rosatom’ Director General Alexey Likhachev also assured that fuel for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will arrive in the country in September next.
The chief of the Rosatom, which is implementing the first track project of the current government, told that the work of RNPP progressed overcoming hundreds of obstacles.
He also assured Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that nuclear fuel for this plant will arrive in Bangladesh in September.
After the nuclear fuel is delivered, it will be kept in designated areas inside the plant for stabilization, according to a source.
The fuel can be used after one year of supply. In the meantime, transmission lines will be laid to distribute the power generated from the plant.
It is expected that the shipment of 50 tons of nuclear fuel will reach Bangladesh in the second week of September. If everything goes well, it will be taken to Rooppur plant by special arrangement from the seaport.
Another source said that a meeting was held for the smooth transportation of the shipment.
There was a request from the Dhaka side that the shipment should arrive at the port on a weekend, Friday or Saturday. As a result, transportation will be somewhat easier. Besides, there will be special arrangements on behalf of the army and police for transportation.
Rooppur Power Plant is the biggest project in Bangladesh and its cost is fixed at $12.63 billion.
The 60-year power project will use nuclear fuel, which will be purchased from Russia. After use of nuclear fuel, they will take the waste back.
Russia will provide free shipment of 50 tons of fuel required for the first year.
During the meeting, the Rosatom Director General apprised the prime minister of the overall progress of RNPP.
They also talked about the opening celebration of the RNPP.
Sheikh Hasina also thanked all concerned for advancing the work of RNPP despite the Covid-19 pandemic and the global crisis.
In the latest development, a trestle crane was installed at unit 1 under construction at RNPP recently. It was installed at an elevation of +47.50 meters.
The trestle crane was manufactured in Russia and delivered to the RNPP construction site in a disassembled state. The weight of the assembled equipment is 225 tons with a lifting capacity of 360 tons.
“The equipment is necessary for reloading super-heavy equipment and transporting fresh and spent fuel during the RNPP operation,” said Alexei Deriy, Atomstroyexport Vice President and Director of the Rooppur NPP construction project.
RNPP is under construction at Ishwardi upazila of Pabna district. Two units of the project with a total capacity of 2,400MWe are being constructed under Russian design. Each unit will be equipped with Generation 3+ VVER-1200 reactor that fully complies with all the international safety requirements. The Engineering Division of Rosatom State Corporation is implementing the project as the General Contractor.
The country's lone nuclear power plant, being constructed at Rooppur in Ishwardi at a total cost of US$ 12.65 billion, has two units with a power generation capacity of 1200 MW each.
The government undertook the project in 2009 and after a long discussion signed an $11.385 billion credit agreement with Russian Federation on July 26 in 2016 to implement the project through appointing the Russian state nuclear energy firm-Rosatom--as its contractor.
In addition, on August 6, 2019, Bangladesh signed a nuclear fuel supply agreement with Russia for the project.