Bangladesh is scheduled to start generating its own nuclear energy by 2025, provided war and sanctions do not delay the process.
But joining the elite club of just 30 countries that currently operate nuclear plants has not come cheaply.
In fact, the economic cost of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) is twice as much as similar projects elsewhere in the world.
Officials related to the Rooppur project have declined to comment on the high cost compared to other projects that are either similar in size or setting like Tamil Nadu in India.
According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, the financial cost of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) project is around $12.65 billion.
A study published in the Environmental Science and Pollution Research journal on January 19 found that Bangladesh has had to bear a hefty setup cost for various facilities such as telecommunications, transportation, and water line and gridline establishment.
The study titled “Estimating the economic cost of setting up a nuclear power plant at Rooppur in Bangladesh” compared the cost of Rooppur Units 1 and 2 to India’s Kudankulam Units 3 and 4, as both projects are being built by ROSATOM, the largest producer of electricity in Russia.
It found that the economic cost of the project is nearly double in Bangladesh compared to Kudankulam 3 and 4 which are India’s 25th and 26th nuclear power reactors.
Rooppur nuclear power plant BigstockAccording to the study, the economic cost amounted to 9.36 cents/kWh for the capacity of 2,400 MW as opposed to Kundakulam where the corresponding cost is 5.36 cents/kWh for 2,000 MW.
The new fifth and the sixth unit of Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, which is not covered in the study, will also have a financial cost of about $6.5 billion to build.
On July 26, 2016, Bangladesh signed an intergovernmental credit agreement with Russia amounting to $11.385 billion – which is 90% of the total cost – to finance the construction of the 2,400 MW nuclear power plant.
Compared to other countries, even neighbouring India, the cost of construction in Bangladesh is much higher considering the same Russian technology is being used, according to experts.
The project, being implemented by the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission under the supervision of the Ministry of Science and Technology, costs higher as it is the first plant in Bangladesh, says a report.
The cost in Bangladesh was higher than Belarus, which are also setting up their first nuclear plants using Russian VVER technology, meaning that along with the first-time cost of installing an NPP there have been other reasons for the higher expenditures here.
The costs are lower in Belarus but then again it is a Russian neighbour, meaning transportation costs are low.
“Equipment, machinery and tools for the Rooppur NPP are being manufactured in Russian factories,” says Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Assistant Professor Abid Hossain Khan.
“Then the equipment is brought by waterways. So, the distance among nations is important when calculating cost,” he added.
According to him, construction costs might change if Bangladesh can manufacture some of the equipment.
None of the officials related to the project was willing to comment on the high cost of Rooppur NPP compared to India and first-timers Belarus.
However, speaking to the Dhaka Tribune on condition of anonymity, they said the initial investment for the project was relatively high but the plant would supply clean electricity at a cheap rate over its 60-year lifetime.
On October 2, 2013, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the first phase of the construction work of the project.
Three years later on November 30, the first concrete casting work of the first unit was inaugurated by her.
On October 10, 2021, the first unit of the Reactor Pressure Vessel was installed.
According to the World Nuclear Association, 447 nuclear reactors are currently operational in 30 countries.
As many as 60 new reactors are under construction worldwide out of which 39 are in the rapidly developing countries of Asia.
China alone has 19 reactors under construction, while six in India, four in the United Arab Emirates, three in South Korea and seven in Russia are under construction.