Rooppur gets uranium on Thursday
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Russian President Vladimir Putin to witness the handover ceremony virtually
Bangladesh is set to become the 33rd nuclear power-producing country by loading uranium into the first unit of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant on Thursday.
The first unit of the Rooppur plant has already been approved for use of uranium by the Russian state corporation Rosatom and international organisations in this field. In this regard, on September 28, a total of 168 TPS (uranium fuel assemblies, each weighing approximately 7 kilograms) were sent to Bangladesh from Russia.
Today, Rosatom Director-General Alexey Likhachev will hand over a certificate of fuel delivery and a model of fuel assembly to Science and Technology Minister Yafesh Osman with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Russian President Vladimir Putin present virtually.
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Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will contribute two percent to the country's GDP (Gross Domestic Product), Yafesh Osman said in a press briefing after inspecting the preparations for this event on Wednesday.
People will get electricity from Rooppur NPP in the beginning of 2025, he said. "The backward section of people of North Bengal will benefit from this scheme."
From the two units in Rooppur, a total of 2,400 megawatts of electricity will be generated, of which 1,200 megawatts will be available from each unit.
The uranium for Rooppur has been prepared at the Novosibirsk plant located in the Siberian region of Russia. According to the agreement, Russia will supply it for the lifetime of Rooppur – 80 years). For the first three years, this fuel will be supplied to the country free of cost.
