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Alexey Likhachev, head of Rosatom, meets Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka
Published : 02 Apr 2024, 10:26 PM
The first of the two 1200 MW units of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in northern Bangladesh is expected to begin experimental production by the end of 2024.
Alexey Likhachev, director general of the station’s Russian constructor Rosatom, revealed the information after a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Ganabhaban on Tuesday.
They also discussed the construction of another two-unit nuclear power plant at the site in Pabna, he said.
Other top officials of the Russian state nuclear energy agency, Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman and representatives of the Atomic Energy Commission were also present.
In a statement after the meeting, Likhachev said the physical startup of the first unit of Rooppur power station will begin before the end of this year.
He said they discussed new projects and Bangladesh expressed interest in constructing two more nuclear power units at the Rooppur site.
A high-power multipurpose research reactor, which can solve many problems in science and nuclear medicine, was also discussed.
In an interview with Russia’s Rossiya-24 TV channel, he said Bangladesh wishes to cooperate with Rosatom on projects in third countries.
He recalled that local contractors have taken part in the construction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh, and their professionalism has grown as a result, Russian news agency TASS reported, citing the interview.
According to Likhachev, Rosatom offers Bangladesh the entire range of its competencies.
"This includes the construction of small nuclear power plants, including floating ones, and as you know, Bangladesh is both a sea and river power.
“This also includes creating centers of nuclear science and technology in the interests of nuclear medicine, in the interests of agriculture, in the interests of scientific research, and, probably any country developing nuclear energy should also think about atomic science. This is important, and one supports the other," Likhachev noted.
In November 2011, Russia and Bangladesh signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in constructing the first Bangladeshi nuclear power plant
The plant will be equipped with two power units with VVER-1200 reactors.
At the beginning of 2017, the Russian government provided Bangladesh with a state loan in the amount of $11.38 billion to finance the nuclear power plant’s main stage of construction.
Construction of the first power unit began in November 2017 and the second in July 2018.
