Rooppur Uranium Shipment Delayed

The delivery of nuclear fuel for Unit 2 of Bangladesh’s Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant has been delayed due to an airspace clearance issue. A cargo aircraft carrying the uranium was scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh on September 24 but could not reach the country as planned. Science and Technology Minister Faqir Mahbub Anam said Russia has proposed a new schedule, with the shipment potentially arriving in the first week of October.

[Dhaka, September 28, 2026] Minister Faqir Mahbub Anam told Indian news agency ANI by phone that a cargo aircraft carrying uranium for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant was scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh on September 24. He said the aircraft could not use Pakistani airspace as planned because the required permission had not been granted. The exact reason for the lack of clearance has not yet been established publicly.

Sheikh Mohammed Tauhidul Islam, joint secretary at the Ministry of Science and Technology, told ANI that all necessary preparations had been completed at the airport and officials were waiting for the shipment. A liaison officer from Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom later informed them that the relevant airspace clearance was not available, preventing the shipment from proceeding. A new schedule may therefore be required.

Meanwhile, Rosatom’s Bangladesh office said delivery of nuclear fuel for Unit 2 is scheduled to begin in October and continue through December 2026. The fuel will be transported through several flights in accordance with contractual terms and the project schedule.

The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is being built in Rooppur village on the banks of the Padma River in Ishwardi, Pabna, with technical assistance from Rosatom and under the supervision of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission. The project consists of two third-generation VVER-1200 reactor units with a combined generation capacity of 2,400 megawatts.

The first shipment of fresh nuclear fuel for Rooppur Unit 1 arrived in Bangladesh in October 2023. The shipment contained 164 fresh fuel assemblies manufactured at Rosatom’s Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant and was transported to the Rooppur site under enhanced security arrangements.

Fuel loading for Unit 1 began in April this year, with 163 fuel assemblies loaded into the reactor core by May. The unit is currently progressing through commissioning activities.

Earlier this month, Science and Technology Minister Faqir Mahbub Anam met Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s General Conference in Vienna. The two sides discussed accelerating the remaining work on the Rooppur project while maintaining international nuclear safety standards.

//DBTech/ANI/MSI/BPO//