'Broad consensus' on Rooppur plant

All major political parties in Bangladesh have 'broadly accepted' the nuclear power plant that is being commissioned by Russia, according to Moscow's envoy to Dhaka.

Moscow looks forward to build more such plants if Dhaka proposes some in future.

Russian ambassador Alexander Nikolaev told diplomatic correspondents in Dhaka on Tuesday that a senior Awami League leader has assured him that Dhaka would “fulfil all their obligations under the agreements signed”.

He said BNP had not opposed the idea of setting up a nuclear power plant when its leaders met him two years back after his arrival in Dhaka.

They had 'some scepticism' about the project site, he said, replying to a question that whether Russia had discussed this issue with the BNP.

“It’s (scepticism) not about the idea of setting up nuclear power plant,” he told the press meet organised by Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB).

Last year, Russia and Bangladesh signed a deal to build Rooppur nuclear power plant in Pabna.

The plant will add 1,000MW of power in a country which is desperate for electricity.

But plant’s safety issue came to the fore after Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster.

Even German ambassador in Dhaka Albrecht Conze had expressed safety concerns, prompting the Russian ambassador last month to describe them as ‘provocative’ and ‘reflection of jealousy’.

Replying to a question he once again on Tuesday said that the German envoy made the comment out of 'commercial jealousy'.

He reiterated that they would design such a plant available in Russia and it would be “many times safer” than the one at Fukushima and could sustain both earthquakes and air strikes.

The ambassador said major political parties recognised that Bangladesh's energy crisis must be solved.

“I think such a situation provides for a consensus,” he said.

The Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has recently said that she has plans to build another nuclear power plant in southern part of the country as Rooppur is up north.

Replying a question whether Russia would be interested to build that plant, the envoy said the PM’s statement was “the best answer to the opinion of my German colleague."

“He (German ambassador) said what is the sense of constructing a single NPP (nuclear power plant) in Bangladesh, it could not solve all the energy problems in the country. I told him then -- who told you there will just be one nuclear power plant! "

He cited Russia’s historic contribution to Bangladesh’s power sector. The thermal power plants at Siddhirganj and Ghorasal, commissioned in mid-1970s, still produce a major share of the country's total power output.

Two oldest blocks of Ghorasal have been recently modernized by a Russian engineering company.

The envoy said Russia was interested in helping “our friends in Bangladesh” to solve the power problems.

He mentioned Moscow’s new engagements with Dhaka as part of what he earlier said “Russia is coming back to Bangladesh seriously and for long time”.

On Tuesday, he said Russia was renewing its cultural exchange after a few decades “time-break”.

Dhaka and Moscow had already decided to observe the Days of Russian Culture in Bangladesh this year and the Days of Bangladeshi Culture in Russia next year.

He said the scholarships for studying at Russian universities were on and this year for the first time 10 Bangladeshi students would learn nuclear physics in Russia’s leading educational institutions.

He said the bilateral trade was also growing and could reach $ 1 billion this year.

The ambassador said Bangladesh’s commerce ministry was in talks with the Custom Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan for duty-free market access.

The Union is the decision making body for duty-free products entry in those three markets.

Russia-Bangladesh relations began in 1971 when the then Soviet Union supported Bangladesh’s freedom struggle against Pakistan.

Bangladesh was born after a nine-month war and the erstwhile Soviet Union had extended its support to the newborn country at the UN in 1971.

It also helped Bangladesh to restore and develop its war-ravaged economy.

The ambassador on Tuesday said Russia was interested that South Asian countries including Bangladesh become one of “strong piles” in the new “polycentric international system”.

DCAB President Mainul Alam and General Secretary Angur Nahar Monty have conducted the meet the press styled ‘DCAB talk’.