Bangladesh Signs with Russia's Rosatom for 2,000-Megawatt Nuclear Power Plant

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Rosatom's (Moscow, Russia) AtomStroyExport division will act as the contractor for the construction of two 1,000-megawatt (MW), third-generation reactors for the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission. This will be the country's first nuclear power plant.

Under the agreement, the nuclear power plant will be built at Rooppur, in the Ishwardi district of Pabna, about 200 kilometers from the country's capital city of Dhaka.

Russia also will support Bangladesh in developing the necessary infrastructure for the project. Russia will provide fuel for the plant and take back used fuel for long-term management and permanent disposal. Russia also will train staff to operate the plant. Construction on the reactors is scheduled to begin in 2013, and the project will take five years to complete at an estimated cost of up to $2 billion. The government hopes to have a 1,000-MW unit in operation by 2018.

At the agreement signing with Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the state-owned Rosatom, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that energy was very important and the country needed to develop it. "However, for us it is also important that all safety requirements and precautions for the construction of nuclear power plants are met."

Kiriyenko said that the proposed reactors would meet all the post-Fukushima requirements and noted that the plant will feature double containment, a passive heat removal system, hydrogen combiners, a core catcher, and other safety features. A new design model will be employed, with a new safety system that is being used in Russia and other countries. The basic cooling system will allow heat to be diverted and the double protection system could survive an aircraft falling on it, said the Rosatom head.

Russia made a formal proposal to construct a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh in 2009, after China and South Korea also offered financial and technical help for a nuclear project.

The latest agreement between the two countries follows the signing of an intergovernmental agreement in May 2010 on cooperation for peaceful purposes in the field of atomic energy. The agreement provided a legal framework for cooperation in the field of nuclear energy.

The nuclear project is part of the country's efforts to diversify its energy sources. Currently, the industrial sector suffers from regular brownouts, and 50% of the population has no access to electrical power. Total installed generation capacity is about 5,000 MW, against a daily demand of 6,500 MW. The country has a rapidly growing population, which now stands at about 160 million people.

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