Rooppur NPP marks important milestone with delivery of fresh nuclear fuel

The Director General of Rosatom State Corporation, the Russian contractor for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh, announced they have reached one of the most important stages of the project - delivery of fresh nuclear fuel to the site.

Alexey Likhachev said the milestone in the project’s implementation has been reached thanks to the efforts of both his Russian and Bangladeshi colleagues.

Delivery of fresh nuclear fuel will mark the transition of the NPP under construction into the status of a nuclear facility, and will make Bangladesh a member of the “nuclear community” of countries using atomic energy for peaceful purposes, Likhachev said.

The Rooppur NPP equipped with two VVER-1200 reactors capable of producing a combined 2400 MW of electricity is being built by the Russian state atomic power agency 160 km from Dhaka under a General Contract dated December 25, 2015, said the Russian Embassy in Dhaka on Monday.

Likhachev met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and discussed the current issues of Rooppur NPP construction, including the readiness of the site for the most important milestone of the year - delivery of fresh fuel for Unit 1.

The Russian design with two VVER-1200 reactors that had been successfully implemented at two units of the Novovoronezh NPP in central Russia, was selected for the first NPP in Bangladesh.

This is an evolutionary Generation III+ design which fully complies with all international safety requirements, and is said to be foolproof.

Russia is consistently developing international trade and economic relations, focusing on cooperation with friendly countries, said the Embassy. Despite external restrictions, the domestic economy is augmenting its export potential to supply goods, services and raw materials all over the world, it said.

The implementation of major international energy projects is underway. Rosatom and its enterprises are taking an active part in this work, said the Embassy.