Bangladesh, India, Russia sign MoU for Rooppur power plant

FT ONLINE

Bangladesh has signed a tri-party Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation for implementation of the Rooppur nuclear power plant.

Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) and the Department of Atomic Energy of the India and The Ministry of Science and Technology of Bangladesh were the parties.

According to a statement put on the website of Rosatom, Bangladesh’s Ambassador to Russia SM Saiful Hoque, India’s Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran and Deputy Director General for international relations of Rosatom Nikolay Spassky signed the MoU.

The statement said, “Under the MoU, Indian companies can be involved in construction and installation works, the supply of materials and equipment of a non-critical category in the interests of the project”.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed an agreement in his 2015 visit in Bangladesh.

According to that agreement, India will co-operate Bangladesh in civil nuclear service.

The MoU set a framework for the interaction of the Russian contractor, Indian and Bangladeshi experts in the implementation of works related to the project.

“The parties, in particular, will cooperate in the field of personnel training, exchange of experience and consulting support,” says the statement.

It further says, “Indian companies can be involved in construction and installation works, the supply of materials and equipment of a non-critical category in the interests of the project.”

Spassky described the MoU as a “landmark” event for the nuclear industry as a whole.

“We are confident that this is the first step toward the formation of a new, forward-looking cooperation agenda in the (South Asian) region,” he said.

Construction of the Rooppur nuclear power plant will consist of two power units with Russian-designed WWER reactors with a capacity of 1,200 MW each.

In 2015-2016, the General Contractor carried out the preliminary work on the construction site, prepared operating documentation, worked out the documents to justify licenses for sitting and constructing the power units.

The construction of the foundation of the reactor compartment of the first power unit began in November last year.