Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant to take one and half years to commission, minister says

Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman has said that it will take about one and a half years to commission the first unit of 2400 MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.

“We hope we can commission the first unit of the Rooppur NPP in next one and a half years,” he said while talking to reporters at the site of the plant on Wednesday.

Project director of the Rooppur NPP Dr Shawkat Akbar said that the first unit will come into operation by September next year.

The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) is going to officially receive a fresh batch of uranium from the Russian contractor, Rosatom, at a formal "Graduation Ceremony" on Thursday (5 October).

According to official sources, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin are expected to virtually join the historic ceremony to mark the occasion.

Sources said Director General of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, Aleksey Likhachev, will hand over the fuel officially to the project authority in Rooppur project.

Science and Technology Minister Architect Yeafesh Osman will preside over the function while Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will join the ceremony through video conference.

On the occasion, a group of journalists were visiting the Rooppur NPP on Wednesday.

The Minister also told reporters that the Rooppur NPP will add 2 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP).

He said there are a lot of issues like readiness of transmission lines to supply power from the project.

So, its timely commissioning also depends on the completion of work of transmission facilities, he added.