India closer to signing nuclear pact with Russia, Bangladesh

NEW DELHI: India has moved closer to signing its tripartite Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) involving Russia and Bangladesh for Rooppur Nuclear Power plant near Dhaka — Delhi’s first such civil nuclear document — amid foundation stone laying for the project on Thursday that would power South Asia’s second fastest growing economy.

Bangladesh on Thursday saw the first concrete pouring into the reactor building foundation of its first Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, which will mark the construction of Bangladesh’s first nuclear reactor and make it the third country in South Asia after India and Pakistan to have a civil nuclear project.

While India has been working with major powers (USA, Russia and Japan) across various sectors as well as firming up joint ventures in third countries in Africa, SE Asia and Central Asia, it would be the first occasion where Delhi will conclude a tripartite civil nuclear project marking India’s global entry into a strategic sector.


In fact, India for the first time ever is playing a substantive role in building a nuclear power plant on foreign soil with the proposed supply of equipment and material for the power station being built by Bangladesh with Russian assistance, officials said, adding Bangladeshi nuclear scientists and technicians are undergoing training at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant which is also built with Russian assistance and uses Russian nuclear technology.

It will also boost the Make in India initiative amid a proposal by Delhi to Moscow for manufacturing of some nuclear
power reactor equipment in India. The three sides are currently negotiating tripartite pact and are expecting to conclude it in the near future, officials familiar with the matter told ET.

Few years back Delhi and Moscow had concluded a pact for joint civil nuclear ventures in third countries. Later India signed a civil nuclear cooperation deal, along with two more related agreements, with Bangladesh this April during PM Sheikh Hasina’s India visit. This was Delhi's second such agreement in the neighbourhood after an agreement with Sri Lanka reflecting India's growing stature as a responsible nuclear power.

The Rooppur plant involves two units, each with a capacity of 1200 MW and is situated on the bank of Padma river. Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant’s generation units will be based on VVER-1200 reactors of the 3+ generation technology. The VVER-1200 is the most powerful reactor in Russia and it has three key advantages: it shows high-performance, it is durable and safe.

The main feature of VVER-1200 project (one of the world’s advanced reactors) is its unique combination of active and passive safety systems, which provide the maximum resistance against external and internal impact, including tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and planecrash. VVER-1200 technology is also likely to be offered to India for the second set of six Russian built nuclear reactors. This technology uses "post-Fukushima" safety standards for a nuclear power plant, Russianofficials told ET.