The construction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) is progressing smoothly. The plant may be ready to begin production in 2024.
Trial runs of production at the plant are expected to begin at the end of next year, according to project officials.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will virtually inaugurate the installation of the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) in the second unit of Rooppur NPP in Pabna from Ganabhaban today. Alexey Likhachev, director-general of Rosatom, Russia's Atomic Energy Organisation, will attend the ceremony along with other officials.
Highlights:
- Overall progress over 50%
- Second unit expected to be commissioned in 2025
- Fuel for first unit to arrive in Bangladesh by next September
On 10 October last year, the prime minister inaugurated the RPV in the first unit of the RNPP. The installation of the RPV officially made Bangladesh the 33rd country with a nuclear reactor capable of producing electricity.
RNPP authorities said the nuclear power plant will play a significant role in meeting the country’s rising energy demand.
During a visit to the construction site on Tuesday, Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman said the overall progress of the project was over 53%. The first unit is more than 70% complete.
“Uranium will be used as the fuel for the RNPP. We can bring fuel from Russia to Bangladesh by next September,” he told reporters.
RNPP officials said the RPV is the component which holds the nuclear fuel when reactors are in operation, serving as one of several barriers that keep it contained from the environment.
According to the project plan, the first unit of the nuclear power plant will supply 1,200MW of electricity from 2023, and the same amount of electricity will be available from the second unit in 2024.
“We are working hard to meet the target. We can start production on a trial basis in 2023, but will be fully ready to supply in 2024,” said RNPP Project Director Dr Md Shaukat Akbar.
"Now we are at the stage of commissioning the work of the first unit, which we expect to start on trial next October," he added.
However, RNPP officials could not say when electricity would be added to the national grid, as it would depend on the electricity supply authorities.
The RNPP project is being implemented by the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission with technical and financial support from Russia.
The project’s construction cost, including for training manpower, amounts to $12.65 billion, and 90% of it is being funded by Russia.
From the start of commercial production, the RNPP is expected to produce electricity for a minimum of 60 years. The economic life of a conventional power plant is 25 years.
Besides its long-lasting service, the plant will also help Bangladesh generate electricity without emitting carbon dioxide, which is a common externality in conventional power plants fired by coal, gas and oil.
At present, there are around 33,000 people working at the RNPP site, including 5,500 foreign workers.
