Bangladesh has achieved notable progress in its nuclear infrastructure development of nuclear power, according to a team of international experts from the IAEA. An Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) mission concluded that Bangladesh has mostly met the conditions for knowledgeable decision-making and is actively preparing for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project.
"Bangladesh recently concluded an Inter-Governmental Agreement with Russia for the first NPP. The results of the INIR mission will be useful to us as we progress to strengthen the national nuclear infrastructure," said Mr. Architect Yeafesh Osman, Minister of State of the Ministry of Science and ICT.
"The mission team made 50 recommendations and 20 specific suggestions to assist the national authorities in preparing the infrastructure necessary to implement the project," said Mr. J.K. Park, IAEA Director for Nuclear Power and INIR mission team leader. "We also recognised that Bangladesh has strong expertise especially in safeguards, security and radiation protection."
Bangladesh began consideration of nuclear power in the 1960s, and with the Government approval of a national Action Plan in 2000, reinvigorated its efforts in recent years. The nuclear power plant would contribute to solving dire energy shortages and future increased demand for energy.
The agreement with Russia is for two 1 000 megawatt-electric (MWe) units as well as fuel supply, take-back of spent fuel, training and other services. The Government of Bangladesh is considering either a Government-owned turnkey project or a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) contract.
This is the 6th INIR mission conducted by the IAEA. The INIR is an international peer review of the comprehensive integrated infrastructure needed to introduce a national nuclear programme. The mission reviews the 19 issues of Phase 1 and Phase 2 identified in the Agency's publication Milestones in the Introduction of a National Nuclear Power Programme (NE Series NG-T-3.1).
The INIR mission was conducted under an IAEA technical cooperation project.