Bangladesh, July 6 -- Bangladesh prepares to enter the nuclear power era as the first unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant nears commissioning, but several financial, regulatory and operational issues remain unresolved despite the project's advanced stage.

If the current schedule holds, the first unit at Ishwardi in Pabna will begin supplying around 300 megawatts (MW) to the national grid by the end of August, before reaching its full commercial capacity of 1,200MW in December. Fuel loading for the unit began on 28 April.

Once operational, Bangladesh will become the world's 33rd country to generate electricity from nuclear power.

The Rooppur project, however, has experienced repeated delays since construction began. Under the origi...