The main construction work of the Rooppur nuclear power plant on the banks of the river Padma has been delayed for the third time. It had been rescheduled to begin this month.
Project director of Rooppur nuclear power plant Shawkat Akbar informed to reporters of the matter after a meeting at the Rooppur nuclear power plant construction site on Sunday.
The construction work was to begin in August this year. Then it was rescheduled for September and then again postponed to October.
Science and technology minister Yeafesh Osman presided over the meeting where land minister Shamsur Rahman Sherif, prime minister office’s chief coordinator of ACDG issues M Abul Kalam Azad, along with eight secretaries and other senior government officials were present at the meeting.
The ministry of science and technology in a recent letter to the Russian authorities proposed to start construction by November.
Ministry officials also said that they are still waiting for response from the Russian authorities which is expected within this week.
Russia’s president Vladimir Putin has been invited for the inauguration ceremony along with a number of senior Indian government officials.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the construction work.
Meanwhile, the atomic power commission has identified a number of flaws in the Russian construction company’s engineering and infrastructural work of the basic construction of the nuclear power plant.
The work was done during the first stage. The construction company is revising the work and this is also causing delay for the main construction work.
The atomic energy commission has finalised India’s Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) as consultant of the nuclear power plant. The commission is expected to sign a deal with the Indian government organisation before the beginning of the main construction work of the nuclear power plant.
India is also helping Bangladesh in developing the manpower for the operations of the nuclear power plant. Bangladeshi officials are training at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu, India.
Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM prefers Indian experts for the main construction of the nuclear power plant.
Sources from ROSATOM and Atomic Energy Commission said the first bloc of the power plant is expected to be launched in 2023 while the second one in 2024.
Source: Prothom Alo
