Bangladesh has signed an agreement with Russia to return the spent nuclear fuel from Rooppur nuclear power plant, which is being built with Russian assistance.
Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman and Alexey Likhachev, director general of Rosatom, Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation, signed the agreement in Moscow on Wednesday.
Earlier on March 15, the two countries had approved a draft of the agreement on spent fuel management of the project after a bilateral meeting in Dhaka.
According to the agreement, Russia will take back the spent fuel from Bangladesh territory for reprocessing, recycling and management, confirmed Science and Technology Ministry’s Information Officer Md Kamrul Islam Bhuiyan.
From the outset of the project, Bangladesh has been keen to return nuclear waste to Russia, he added.
Science and Technology Secretary M Anwar Hossain, Bangladesh ambassador in Moscow Dr Saiful Hoque and Rooppur plant’s Project Director Dr Mohammad Shawkat Akbar were present among others during the signing ceremony at the Rosatom headquarters in Moscow.
“The plant will be equipped with two Russian water-water energetic reactors (WWERs), each with a minimum capacity of 1,200 MW. The WWER-1200 offered by Rosatom is a modern generation 3+ project which meets all post-Fukushima safety standards and international rules,” said a press release from Rosatom.
At an estimated cost of $12.65 billion, ASE Group of Companies (Rosatom’s subsidiary) on December 25, 2015, signed a contract to construct the plant consisting of two WWER power units, each with a capacity of 1200 MW, at Rooppur in Pabna.
The first of the two units is expected to go into operation in 2023 and the second the next year.
The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, under the Science and Technology Ministry, is in charge of implementing the project that is expected to add 2,400MW of electricity to the national grid by 2023.
Friday, July 03, 2026
