Rosatom CEO: Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant steadily nearing completion despite challenges

ISHWARDI /Bangladesh/, April 28. /TASS/. The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project in Bangladesh is steadily nearing completion, despite a number of external and internal challenges, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said at the official ceremony marking the physical start-up of the plant's first power unit. According to him, "the implementation of this large-scale project has faced various challenges related to the pandemic, international turbulence, and domestic political changes in Bangladesh." "But despite all the difficulties, we have not stopped construction for a single day and are now steadily advancing toward completion," the Rosatom head said. "By starting the reaction with nuclear fuel, we are bringing a nuclear power plant to life," he added. Likhachev noted that "Bangladesh is now fully entitled to the status of a nation using peaceful nuclear technologies." The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), with two VVER-1200 reactors and a total capacity of 2,400 MW, is under construction 160 km from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, under a general contract signed on December 25, 2015. Earlier on Tuesday, nuclear fuel was loaded into the reactor of Unit 1 of the Rooppur NPP. This is a key production event at the construction site. It will be followed by the first electricity supply to the national grid and the power start-up of the country's first nuclear unit.