Bangladesh will buy uranium as a nuclear fuel for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) at international market price from Russia. To this end Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) and a delegation from Russian state-owned firm TVEL Joint Stock Company will sign an agreement on August 6 in Dhaka, said officials.
TVEL Joint Stock Company, a Russian nuclear fuel cycle company based in Moscow, will supply the Uranium to the RNPP for entire lifetime. There will be no fixed rate for purchasing the Uranium from the Russians. A guideline has made regarding the purchase tariffs of the Uranium. According to sources at the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Law Ministry approved the "agreement" proposal and the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase gave its nod.
Science and Technology Secretary Anwar Hossain said, “Bangladesh is going to buy Uranium from Russia as they are implementing the RNPP. A draft deal is already being prepared, the international market will determine the tariff of the nuclear fuel".
"We need the fuel from 2027, so we don't need to discuss the tariff right now, but we can say that it will follow the international formula to procure nuclear fuel. Since it is a long-term contract, it would not be wise to set prices for a five year or ten-year span”, he added. World nuclear agency has fixed of uranium price at $550 per kilogram until 2027. The cost of fuel will be reviewed and reset after every 10 years of supply. The plant's operational lifetime is estimated to be 50 years.
According to the inter-governmental agreement (IGA) signed with the Russian Federation in November 2011, Bangladesh will have to purchase nuclear fuel from the Russian company for the entire lifetime of the power plant.Sources said each unit of the power plant will have to reload one-thirds of the total required nuclear fuel in every 18 months and the first, second and third reload will be provided by the Russian firm for free. So it is expected that Bangladesh will need uranium for RNNP from 2027.
According to estimation, the two reactors of RNPP will require nuclear fuel worth about $1.4 billion throughout its 50-years of economic lifespan.Uranium extracted from the mine is sold through tenders in the international market. Before placing a purchase order of the Uranium, a ‘pre-price’ needs to be fixed and of this price, 50 percent depends on the price of Uranium itself and the other 50 percent depends on annual depreciation of dollars and euros. The price will be determined according to the prices available in the world market at the time of supply of fuel or uranium.
Bangladesh government has engaged Russian nuclear energy firm Rosatom as contractor for the RNPP project.The total cost of implementing the RNPP is estimated at TK 1 lac 13 thousand 92 crores and 91 lac or $12.65 billion. Russia is about to provide $11.38 billion for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant as a loan which is 90 percent of the total estimated cost. Bangladesh has already signed the $11.38 billion credit deal with the Russian Federation.
The power plant is expected to provide an uninterruptible power supply with having a maximum capacity of 2400 MW. The cost of operating the power plant will be just TK 1 thousand crores per year.The first unit with capacity of 1200MW is expected to be commissioned in 2023 and the second one with same capacity is to be operational from 2024.
On January 31 of this year, Bangladesh had signed a ‘nuclear fuel support contract deal’ with Russia to ensure fuel supply for the RNPP for the entire lifetime of the power plant. On August 30, 2017, Bangladesh signed the ‘spent fuel sent back’ deal with the Russian Federation for management of the nuclear waste of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP).