Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom has completed concreting the foundation of unit 1 at Bangladesh’s Rooppur NPP, ASE Group (a Rosatom subsidiary) said on 5 April, adding that the project is on schedule. Shawkat Akbar, project director for Bangladesh, said similar work would start shortly on unit 2. In line with a recent tripartite memorandum on cooperation in the implementation of the project to build Rooppur NPP, 50 young specialists from Bangladesh will be sent to India for training, he said. Construction of Rooppur 1 formally began in November 2017. The plant is to have two 1200MWe VVER units based on unit 1 at Russia’s Novovoronezh II NPP as the reference plant.
An Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement was signed in November 2011 followed by the initial contract for the $12.65bn project in December 2015. The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA) issued the first site licence for the Rooppur plant in June 2016, allowing preliminary site works, including geological surveys, to begin. In 2015-2016, preparatory work was carried out on the construction site, working documentation was developed, as well as materials justifying the construction licences. Unit 1 is scheduled to begin operation in 2023 followed by unit 2 in 2024. BAERA issued a design and construction licence in February.
