Uranium Shipment Arrives at Rooppur Under Tight Security

The second shipment of nuclear fuel (uranium) for the second unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, imported from Russia, has arrived at the project site. Three trucks carrying the fuel entered the project area on Tuesday morning (October 27) under the supervision of the Army and tight security provided by other law enforcement agencies.

According to sources concerned, the trucks reached the Rooppur project site at 7:46am on Tuesday. Earlier, a special cargo aircraft carrying nuclear fuel from Russia landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 8:14am on Monday (October 26).

Russia’s state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom said 163 uranium fuel assemblies for the plant’s second unit are scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh on seven cargo flights. In addition, 48 more uranium fuel assemblies have already arrived in two separate shipments for refuelling the first unit. In total, the nuclear fuel is expected to arrive in nine shipments.

Built with Russian technology, the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant has two VVER-1200 reactor units. Each unit has a generation capacity of 1,200 megawatts, giving the plant a total capacity of 2,400 megawatts. Meanwhile, the first unit has completed the required tests and activities, including the Phase B-2 physics tests. The reports on these tests have been submitted to the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA).

Once BAERA grants final approval, the first unit will move to Stage C, or the power start-up phase. During this stage, the reactor’s power will be increased gradually to test the performance of various equipment and safety systems. The process of supplying electricity to the national grid will begin after the necessary tests are completed and regulatory approval is obtained.