Bangladesh minister clarifies cost of its first nuclear power plant

The cost of constructing Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is higher than the money other countries use for building such plants because Bangladesh is new in the sector, a minister has said.

Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman clarified the cost of the country’s first nuclear power plant in response to a query from opposition BNP MP Rumeen Farhana in parliament on Sunday.

The MP from seats reserved for women asked why the government was spending more money on the plant than India did on Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu.

The estimated cost of the Rooppur plant with 2,400MW capacity is $12.5 billion while the Indian plant built with $2.5 billion in 2002 generates 6,000MW electricity.

“Bangladesh is new in constructing nuclear power plant while India has more than 50 years of experience in operating, managing and maintaining nuclear power plants. That is why the Kudankulam plant took comparatively less money than Rooppur to build,” the minister said.

The study conducted to build the Rooppur plant was more advanced than that for Kudankulam plant, according to the minister.

The two plants are different in design – Rooppur is being built with AES-2006 design while AES-92 was used for Kudankulam, he said.

The capacity of the six units of the Kudankulam plant is 1,000MW each while the two in Roopur will generate 1,200MW each, the minister said.

“Besides these, we had to take measures to stop land erosion as Rooppur is on the bank of the Padma River, which India did not have to do in Tamil Nadu,” he added.