Bangladesh set to join nuke club
By Tanzim Anwar, BSS ||
2013-01-16 Time : 22:24:06
Dhaka: Bangladesh is set to launch the physical works to build the maiden nuclear power plant in next few months as Dhaka signed the landmark deal with Russia to become a new member of the existing 31-member nuclear power club, officials said on Wednesday. "The physical works (for the plant) is expected to start by this year .....the successful deal signed with Russia paved the way for the launch," Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) Chairman ASM Firoz told BSS. He added: "Yesterday's deal (in Moscow) is a great success we achieved what we want from Russia" as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is on an official visit to Moscow. The BAEC chief's comments came a day after the two countries signed nine agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) including the nuclear cooperation treaty under which Moscow will provide a $500 million loan to help Bangladesh build nuclear power plant in northwestern Rooppur. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Russian President Vladimir Putin witnessed the ceremony as officials concerned penned the landmark bilateral deal in the Kremlin. Officials familiar with the process said the plant is now expected to be commissioned in 2021, a year after the trial run to enroll Bangladesh a new member of the now existing 31-member strong nuclear power club. Firoz said under the deal Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom in collaboration with local experts would set up two third generation reactors with the capacity of producing 1000 MW power each. "The third generation reactors prioritise the safety concerns and these are much safer than the second generation ones," he said adding that Bangladeshi nuclear scientists were also capable enough to handle the nuclear power plant with their long experience in BAEC. Officials and experts said 2000 MW nuclear power plant will be able to provide 10 percent of the total electricity to the national grid by 2021 in line with the government's energy perspective plan and Vision 2021. They said under the deal the two countries would now carryout a 'Feasibility Evaluation for Investment Project', 'Site and Engineering Survey, Environmental Studies' and 'Conceptualization of Design' within next one and a half years. "Exhausting the process Bangladesh government will issue an 'international standard license' to be reviewed by International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) for installing the reactors," an official familiar with the project said. He added: After getting the license, a second contract will be signed between Bangladesh and Russia to figure out the total cost of the project." In the next one and a half years, detailed engineering design, Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR) and offsite infrastructure construction and Human resource development would also be completed. BEAC officials said all these works would be completed by the end of 2015 and the first reactor would be installed in the subsequent two years and another one year would be needed to set up the second reactor. "We envisage the maiden nuclear plant will go to commercial generation by 2020 to 2021," Firoz said. As per the agreement, the Russian authority would take the responsibility of nuclear waste management taking away all the waste to Russia by a specialized ship. International Atomic Energy Association allowed Bangladesh to install nuclear power plants in 2007 along with seven other developing nations while Russia, France, South Korea, China and Pakistan expressed their interest to offer their assistance for developing the infrastructure. Bangladesh,formerly East Pakistan considered building a nuclear power plant for the first time in 1961 and in 1963 Rooppur site was selected. Nearly four decades later the country adopted a national Nuclear Power Action Plan in 2001. In May 2010, Bangladesh signed a peaceful atomic energy use framework with Russia while Bangladesh also has framework agreement for peaceful nuclear energy applications with the US, France and China. In February 2011, Bangladesh reached an agreement with Russia to build a 2,000 MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant with two units, each of which will generate 1,000 MW of power. The inter-governmental agreement (IGA) was officially signed on November 2, 2011. As per the World Nuclear Association (WNA) there are presently over 430 commercial nuclear power reactors operating in 31 countries, with a total 372,000 MW capacity. Ends/AMA/16/01/13
