Bangladesh looks for site for second nuke plant: Hasina

Rooppur Power Plant updated model

Dhaka, Oct 10 - Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said the government is looking for a suitable place in the southern region to build another nuclear power plant to meet the country’s growing demand for power.

“We’re looking for a place in the Southern region…it’s difficult to find hard soil there but we’re surveying various islands and different places to find a suitable one,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina said this while addressing the installation programme of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) of Power unit-1 of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project.

She joined the programme from her official residence Gonobhaban through a videoconference.

Hasina said the government has taken a decision to set up another nuclear power plant on completion of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project. “We’ll do that if we get a suitable place. My choice is to do that on the other side of the Padma River… that means the southern region of the country.”

Mentioning that the government is conducting surveys to select a suitable place, she said it would not be a tough job to select a site. “If the government can build another nuclear power plant in the country, there’ll be no problem in power supply.”

The Prime Minister said the government has set a target to make the country a developed one within 2041. “Already, we’ve got the status of a developing country…this is not enough.”

In 2071, the Prime Minister said, the country will celebrate its 100 years of independence. “That will surely be celebrated by the new generation in a beautiful, developed, prosperous and modern technology knowledge-based country,” she said.

Hasina said the government has formulated the Delta Plan 2100 so that this country never lags behind and no clutch of vultures falls upon this country ever.

The Prime Minister said the government wants Bangladesh to march forward with its unstoppable development pace.

Russian and Bangladeshi expert teams installed the reactor pressure vessel brought to the project site from Russia in October, 2020.

The nuclear power plant, designed and built by the engineering division of Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation of Russia, will consist of two such VVER-1200 reactor power units; their life cycle is expected to be 60 years, with the possible extension of service life of another 20 years.

The Russian design with VVER-1200 reactors, successfully implemented at Novovoronezh NPP-2, was selected for the first NPP in Bangladesh.

The plant will have two power units with an electrical capacity of 1,200 MW each.

Science and Technology Minister Architect Yeafesh Osman, Director General of Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation of Russia and Secretary of Science and Technology Ministry Ziaul Hasan also spoke at the event.

A video presentation on Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant was screened at the programme. The Prime Minister also witnessed the final installation process of RPV. - UNB