Russia has agreed to dispose of spent reactor fuel from the proposed Rooppur nuclear power plant and transport the highly radioactive rods back to Russia at the end of their life-cycle.
In response to a question about how Bangladesh would dispose of uranium since it had no experience in nuclear waste disposal, director (nuclear and radiation safety) of the Russian state-owned nuclear organization Rosatom, Raykov Sergey, said his organisation would take responsibility for nuclear waste management and help with the eventual decommissioning of the nuclear power plant.
“The spent fuel will be taken back to Russia and will be recycled there. We will supply the necessary fuel for the reactors during the plant’s 60-80 year production life and take back the spent fuel,” Sergey told the Dhaka Tribune at his office.
He said Bangladesh did not have the technical expertise or skilled manpower to undertake such a project nor the quality-assured high-grade components required to build and operate a nuclear reactor. He added that the country lacked the institutional capacity to ensure safety for such a project. But he ruled out any cause for concern.
“We assured Bangladesh of the safety of the plant and Rosatom has rightly taken responsibility for ensuring the safety of the plant and its by-products,” the Russian executive said.
The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC), under the science and technology ministry, will implement the project.
“When the nuclear energy deal is finalised, of course safety and waste disposal issues will be included. There is no reason to be tense,” the state minister for science and technology, Yeafesh Osman, told the Dhaka Tribune.
A top science and technology ministry official said Uranium-235 would be the reactor fuel at the proposed plant.
Uranium-235 is one of the most common fissile nuclear fuels used in power production. It is manufactured as small round fuel pellets. A single pellet is less than an inch long, but is said to produce energy equivalent to a ton of coal.
A BAEC official said the main issues to be looked into is the temporary storage of radioactive fuel rods at the end of their use and the transportation of fuel rods to and from the plant.
Being densely populated and subject to annual river flooding, Bangladesh cannot afford to take risks, he said. Harmful radio-isotopes can build up to dangerous and fatal levels of radiation that, if not properly contained, can kill a person, the official said.
According to the inter-governmental agreement, Moscow will build the plant, supply fuel and assist in the removal and management of spent fuel rods, formulate the legal and regulatory framework, develop the infrastructure and human resource capability and provide financing for the nuclear power plant.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone for the 2,000 megawatt plant in Pabna on October 2, 2013.
Bangladesh signed a deal with Russia on January 14, 2013 during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Moscow, for the extension of state export credit to finance preparatory stage work at the nuclear power plant.
