Russia discussing additional phase for Bangladesh nuclear plant – Rosatom CEO

State-backed Rosatom is discussing building new high-capacity units at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, says Aleksey Likhachev

Russia is in discussions with Bangladesh to build a new phase of high-capacity units at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant near Dhaka, Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev said on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week forum.

Rooppur, built in collaboration with state-owned Rosatom, is the South Asian country’s first nuclear plant. Its first unit is on track to be connected to the national power grid by the end of November.

”We are primarily talking about a possible additional phase of large units,” Likhachev told reporters. “Although our Bangladeshi friends are also discussing small-capacity units and a research reactor with us, the main trend for future development, in my view, is increasing the capacity of the Rooppur NPP.”

He said Bangladesh has asked for proposals from Rosatom for “small nuclear power plants and floating nuclear power plants.”

Read more

The Rooppur plant comprises two Russian-designed reactors with a combined capacity of 2,400 megawatts. Moscow is financing $11.9 billion in state loans for the project, which is estimated to cost up to $12.8 billion.

Rosatom expects to begin commissioning the second unit of the Rooppur plant next year, Likhachev said. The first unit attained criticality – where a self-sustaining chain reaction occurs – on Sunday.

Russia is providing equipment, nuclear fuel, and engineering assistance for the project, and the plant is expected to meet up to 12% of Bangladesh’s electricity demand when completed.