Uranium for Rooppur power plant arrives; remaining shipment likely within 10 days
First unit expected to begin power generation in December-January
Highlights:
- Heavily guarded convoy reaches Rooppur plant from Dhaka
- Army, police and intelligence agencies provide tight security
- Uranium fuel arrived at Dhaka airport late last night
A new shipment of uranium arrived at the project site of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Ishwardi, Pabna on Saturday under tight security.
The special convoy carrying the uranium entered the plant premises at around 12:20pm today (3 October). Project Director Kabir Hossain and managing director of Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh Limited Zayedul Hasan, along with senior officials, formally received the shipment.
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Earlier, the special cargo aircraft carrying the radioactive fuel from Russia landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at around 11:45pm on Friday. The convoy then left Dhaka for Rooppur by road at 7:15am on Saturday under tight security provided by the army.
The shipment was initially scheduled to arrive 24 September, but was delayed as required permission was reportedly not available for the aircraft to use Pakistan's airspace. The schedule was then changed to Friday (October 2) afternoon. It was subsequently rescheduled again and landed in Dhaka late Friday night.
According to sources concerned, the latest shipment was brought to Bangladesh by air with scheduled stops in Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Telecommunications and Information Technology and Science and Technology Minister Fakir Mahbub Anam said all shipments of uranium fuel for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant are expected to arrive within the next seven to 10 days.
He also said the Rooppur plant is expected to begin power generation between December and January.
The minister shared the information over the phone with a private television channel today.
Officials concerned said the first unit, which has a capacity of 1,200MW, is expected to initially generate 300MW of electricity.
According to the plant's fuel supply plan, a total of nine cargo flights are scheduled to bring an additional 48 uranium assemblies for Rooppur's first unit and 163 assemblies for the second unit to Bangladesh by December.
Russia's state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom has said the entire fuel supply process will be completed by December as scheduled.
Progress in first-unit commissioning
Meanwhile, significant progress has been made in the commissioning of the first unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.
After resolving an issue with a safety valve, it was successfully tested at a high pressure on Wednesday (30 September).
Zayedul Hasan said the successful completion of the test was an important step in the commissioning process of the nuclear power plant.
