The fifth batch of nuclear fuel for Rooppur NPP under construction in Bangladesh has reached the project site in Pabna protected by a special security arrangement. According to officials at the plant, a total of seven fuel consignments will be delivered to the site by the end of the year. The consignment of fuel was unloaded in Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and reached the site safely, said plant director Shawkat Akbar. The first four consignments of nuclear fuel reached the project site between 29 September and 20 October.
The Rooppur plant is being built by Rosatom on the eastern bank of the Ganges River in Bangladesh’s Pabna district, about 160 km northwest of Dhaka. It will comprise two VVER-1200 reactors. In November 2011, Russia and Bangladesh signed an inter-governmental agreement on cooperation in the construction of the NPP and in mid-December 2015, a general contract was signed. Construction began in 2021. Construction of the unit 1 began in November 2017 and unit 2 in July 2018. The plant’s design life is 60 years with the possibility of extending its operating life for another 20 years.
All the plant's fuel is being provided by Rosatom under a contract finalised in August 2019, and the used fuel will be returned to Russia for processing. The fuel was produced in Russia at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (NCCP – part of Rosatom’s fuel company TVEL).
Image: Rooppur nuclear power plant
