Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has requested Russia's state-run atomic agency Rosatom to consider building a second nuclear power plant in Rooppur.

She made the request when Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev called on her at her official Ganabhaban residence on Tuesday (2 April), the prime minister's speech writer M Nazrul Islam told reporters after the meeting.

The premier told the Rosatam DG that her government seeks to build another nuclear power plant at Rooppur upon completion of the ongoing project. She also pointed out that a technical survey needs to be conducted for setting up two new units.

Sheikh Hasina directed the completion of all formalities of taking back Spent Nuclear Fuel of the first and second units of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant to Russia. The DG of Rosatom gave assurance on behalf of the Russian government on taking back the Spent Nuclear Fuel and promised to complete all the necessary formalities on time. Dhaka and Moscow have already signed an inter-state agreement regarding the return of the Spent Nuclear Fuel of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant to Russia.

PM Hasina thanked Russia for helping Bangladesh with energy security, especially the construction of the Rooppur nuclear power plant. She said it was the dream of Bangabandhu to set up a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh, and it is being implemented. She recalled the assistance of Russia during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 and subsequent help in rebuilding the war-ravaged country. The prime minister also conveyed her greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin for his reelection. The Rosatom DG apprised the prime minister of the progress in building the Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant. He said the Rooppur Plant will go into production by 2025 and start to supply electricity to the national grid. He also said that 85% of the work of the RNPP has been completed. He proposed to the government to build two new nuclear power units (Unit-3 and Unit-4) in the Rooppur nuclear power project area. The DG noted that the construction of the new units should be started as soon as the construction of the first two units is completed.

In this context, he also said that the expansion of existing nuclear power projects is more profitable and reasonable from the financial point of view and in the light of technical and nuclear safety which is considered internationally. He said that some 2,500 staff including Bangladeshi and Russians have been working on the project and gained their expertise.

PM Hasina asked the Rosatom DG to utilise Bangladeshi expertise in other nuclear power plant construction projects. The Rosatom DG said that due to the pandemic and sanctions, there were obstacles, but the work continued at its usual pace.

Science and Technology Minister Architect Yeafesh Osman was present in the meeting among others.

At present, the construction work of two units, each having a capacity of 1200MW in the Rooppur project area is in the final stage. The physical start-up of the first unit will begin in December this year. Commercial power generation will start in 2025 and 2026 from Unit 1 and Unit 2.

News Link: PM Hasina wants Russian Rosatom to build another nuclear power plant at Rooppur