Fuel Loading Begins: Electricity from the Nuclear Power Plant be On Grid from Mid-August

Bringing an end to long anticipation, fuel loading for the first unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Ishwardi, Pabna, is set to begin on April 28, Tuesday. On that day, Minister for Science and Technology Faqir Mahbub Anam, along with the relevant Russian minister and high-level representatives, will be present at the project site to formally inaugurate the process. It has been reported that Russian officials and senior representatives will attend the event at the project area.

This marks the formal start of the nuclear power generation process. The electricity generated from the plant is expected to be connected to the national grid by mid-August. However, in the initial phase, the country’s only nuclear power plant will supply 300 megawatts of electricity.

The information was disclosed on April 26, Sunday, by Faqir Mahbub Anam, Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, and Science and Technology. Meanwhile, Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Md. Anowar Hossain, stated that the Rooppur project will begin its production process through fuel loading. He expressed hope that full-capacity electricity generation from the first unit would be possible by the end of this year or the beginning of next year.

On the other hand, Dr. Md. Zahidul Hasan, Managing Director of Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh Limited (NPCBL), said that it will take approximately 30 to 40 days to load nuclear fuel into the reactor.

According to relevant sources, on April 16, the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA) issued the commissioning license for the first unit. This paved the way for fuel loading to begin on April 28. Although they were initially expected to attend, neither the Prime Minister of Bangladesh nor the President of Russia will be present at the inauguration due to time constraints. However, it is expected that full-capacity electricity generation (1,200 megawatts) from the first unit will be achieved by the end of this year or early next year. A total of 52 Bangladeshi experts are prepared to work jointly with Russian specialists to operate the power plant.

DBTech/SS/MUIUM/OR