The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA) has issued the critical B-2 commissioning licence to the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, clearing unit-1 of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant to initiate its first controlled nuclear fission reaction.
Fuel loading began on 28 April, after BAERA issued an operating licence, and was completed on 12 May, followed by testing. However, first criticality was delayed for over two months due to technical complications with the unit’s automatic pressure relief safety valves (PORV/POSV). A team of Russian specialists successfully resolved the valve issues, allowing the system to pass rigorous high-pressure testing.
BAERA will require the plant to achieve the first criticality phase before sequentially issuing the C and D licences, which are required for formal grid integration. Once those stages are complete, unit 1 is projected to begin test production by the end of December, initially supplying 300 MWe of power to the national grid.
Over a trial period lasting 7-8 months, output will gradually scale up to the unit’s full capacity of 1,200 MWe. “If all stages are successfully done, we are hopeful about starting power supply to the national grid by the end of this year,” said BAERA Chairman Mahmudul Hasan.
After criticality is achieved , operators will closely monitor whether it is taking place correctly and whether all prescribed parameters and safety criteria are being met, said Dr Zahedul Hassan, Managing Director of Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh Ltd. Project officials said power generation would initially be raised from around 3% and gradually increased to 20-30%, after which electricity could be supplied to the grid.
The Rooppur plant is being built by Rosatom on the eastern bank of the Ganges River in the Pabna district of Bangladesh, 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 worth $12.65bn was signed. Construction of 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.
