Overcoming airspace utilization complications, uranium fuel for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is finally arriving in Bangladesh. Russia is set to begin supplying uranium for the second unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Pabna starting next October. On Monday (September 28), the country's state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom, confirmed the matter in a statement.
According to Rosatom's statement, the supply of nuclear fuel for the second unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will continue from October to December 2026, with the supply process concluding by the end of December. According to the contract and project schedule, a total of 163 fuel assemblies for the second unit are scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh from Russia via seven chartered flights between October and December, along with some necessary fuel for the first unit.
Notably, shipments of uranium from Russia to Bangladesh typically transit through Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India. Recently, shipments were temporarily stalled due to a lack of airspace permissions from certain countries; however, with new approvals granted, the path for the timely arrival of the fuel has been cleared. Earlier, a fuel-carrying flight was scheduled to arrive on September 24, but complications arose regarding the airspace of a specific country. With that barrier now resolved, the uranium is expected to reach Bangladesh in the first week of October.
Previously, the uranium for the first unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant arrived in the country on September 28, 2023, and was transported by road to the project site on September 29. Subsequently, fuel loading operations for the first unit began on April 28 of this year, and the installation of all 163 fuel assemblies in the reactor core was completed in May. Built with Russia's technical and financial assistance, the country's first nuclear power project features two VVER-1200 reactors with a total capacity of 2,400 megawatts. The engineering division of Russia's state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom, is serving as the general designer and contractor for this Generation III+ project.
— Daily Best News Desk • Fearless in the search for truth
Reported by M.S. Rahman, Pabna • Edited by the Daily Best News desk. Send corrections to [email protected].
