Staff Reporter:
The sixth consignment of uranium for the first unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) project has arrived in Pabna’s Rooppur under a special security arrangement.
Pabna Superintendent of Police (SP) Akbar Ali Munshi confirmed that the convoy carrying uranium entered the project area around 8:30am on Friday.
SP Akbar said the convoy carrying uranium left the capital in the morning and crossed the Bangabandhu Bridge and reached the Rooppur project area via Banpara in Natore and Dashuria in Pabna’s Ishwardi.
He added that law enforcement agencies were working to ensure tight security in view of the arrival of uranium. Besides, vehicular movement on the highway from Dhaka to Rooppur in the project area was suspended from 5am to 10am.
However, traffic movement was restored when the uranium consignment entered the Rooppur project area, said the SP.
On September 28, the first consignment of fuel for the nuclear plant project arrived in Bangladesh. The next day fuel was taken to the project area under special security measures.
The consignment was formally handed over in the presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Russian President Vladimir Putin through a video conference on October 5, marking Bangladesh’s entry to the world’s elite club of nuclear power producers.
On January 15, 2013, an agreement regarding State Export Credit of $500 million was signed for carrying out preparatory phase construction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.
The government signed a $12.65 billion general contract (GC) in 2015 with Moscow for building the power plant.
Bangladesh signed a credit agreement with Russia to obtain $11.385 billion for the RNPP in July 2016. The credit covers 90% of the project cost.
The Ministry of Science and Technology recently said the first unit of the plant might come into operation in July 2024 and the second unit in July 2025.
Once the two units become operational, the power plant will be capable of generating 2,400MW of power. The first unit has reached over 90% completion in terms of physical and structural work, while the second unit has progressed to about 70% completion.
According to the World Nuclear Association website, the countries using nuclear energy include the US, China, France, Russia, South Korea, Canada, Ukraine, Germany, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, the UK, India, the Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Hungary, Slovakia, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Romania, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Belarus, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Iran and Armenia.
