The third batch of nuclear fuel has been delivered to the Rooppur NPP under construction in Bangladesh. The fuel arrived at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on a special aircraft from Russia. A senior official of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) received the fuel consignment at the airport and it was then delivered to the NPP site under special security arrangements with the Bangladesh Army. Traffic movement was restricted during its transportation.
The first consignment of fuel was delivered to the plant earlier in October, marking the formal transition of the site to that of a nuclear facility. Seven consignments of 168 fuel assemblies are expected to arrive at the plant this year, according to senior power plants officials.
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).
Image courtesy of Rosatom
