New Delhi, Sept. 17 -- The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP), Bangladesh's first nuclear facility, completed fuel loading at its first unit on May 11, 2026. The fuel-loading process began on April 28 and involved the sequential insertion of 163 fuel assemblies into the reactor core. This marks a major technological milestone for Bangladesh, as fuel loading is one of the most critical and complex stages in a power plant's operational phase, signalling the transition from construction to commissioning. This entire commissioning process, known as pilot operation, may take approximately 8 to 12 months. Once operational, a nuclear power plant serves as a baseload plant, running 24/7 unless interrupted by major technical issues or natural disasters.
RNPP is being built with Russian technical and financial assistance. The project includes two VVER-1200 reactors with a combined capacity of 2,400 MW. On September 14, at a meeting between Bangladesh's Science and Technology Minister Fakir Mahbub Anam and Alexey Likhachev, director general of Russia's state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, on the sidelines of the 70th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Bangladesh and Russia agreed to expedite the remaining construction work at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and begin power generation and supplying electricity to the national grid as soon as possible.
According to World Nuclear News, in February 2011, Russia's Rosatom signed an agreement for two reactors to be built at Rooppur, about 160 kilometres from the capital, Dhaka, for the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission. The initial contract for the project, worth USD 12.65 billion, was signed in December 2015. They have an initial life cycle of 60 years, with a further 20-year extension possible.
Significantly, India, Bangladesh, and Russia signed a historic trilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) on March 21, 2018, in Moscow to cooperate on the construction and implementation of the nuclear power plant at Rooppur. Indian institutions-such as the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP)-helped train Bangladeshi nuclear personnel, leveraging India's prior experience with Russian VVER-type reactors, such as those at Kudankulam. The framework enabled experience-sharing on regulatory aspects, commissioning, and plant operation.
The first batch of nuclear fuel was delivered to the site from Russia in late September 2023-the moment the site acquired its status as a nuclear facility. Hasina said that Russia had promised to take back the spent fuel from Rooppur, and she also assured the nation that the plant had been safely constructed to withstand damage from natural disasters.
US sanctions on Russia and political instability in Bangladesh after the fall of the Hasina government in August 2024 delayed the nuclear project. After the imposition of US sanctions, Russia proposed a mechanism for settling trade with Bangladesh in Indian rupees to bypass US sanctions and facilitate payments for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. Russia is providing a government loan covering 90 per cent of the USD 13 billion project cost. Russia has also taken on long-term obligations to supply nuclear fuel, perform technical maintenance, and manage spent nuclear fuel.
A section of concerned citizens in Bangladesh has raised concerns about the RNPP. The lack of information about the RNPP available to the national mass media has resulted in concerns and fears about the project. It is alleged that there are no final and unequivocal answers to the questions that are heavily discussed by experts, journalists, and social activists in Bangladesh. One of them concerns the water supply for the nuclear plant. The site for the RNPP was chosen even before the creation of Bangladesh, in the early 1960s, on the Padma (Ganga) River. But when India completed the Farakka Barrage in the state of West Bengal in 1975, it affected Bangladesh's water supply, including the river level in the area of the RNPP. Besides, there are immense seasonal variations in the river's course and water level. The spent nuclear fuel from the RNPP is another issue of public concern in Bangladesh. If the spent nuclear fuel is stored in Russia, as reported, how safe will the procedures for removing it from the reactors and transporting it from Bangladesh to Russia be? In addition to these concerns, Bangladeshi experts have little information about national preparations for the training, equipment, and deployment of specially assigned personnel to protect the RNPP against illegal and violent actions that could compromise its security, including possible terrorist attacks. Many terrorist organisations operate in Myanmar and India's North-eastern states, which share porous borders with Bangladesh. A senior professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Dhaka said that the power plant is entering trial production without completing several critical processes. Spent nuclear fuel poses significant risks to human health and the environment. It remains unclear whether Russia will take back this hazardous waste for reprocessing or store it permanently. The mechanisms for plant operation, maintenance procedures, and the formation of the proposed "Waste Management Company" remain unresolved.
Safety and security concerns also haunt the people of West Bengal, as RNPP is located approximately 50 to 60 kilometres (31 to 37 miles) east of the nearest border with India in the Nadia and Murshidabad region of West Bengal. If not properly operated and monitored, RNPP could become a major security issue for both Bangladesh and India-especially for people residing in West Bengal and the North-eastern states.
Views expressed are personal. The writer is a professor of Business Administration
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.