Russia's Rosatom begins loading fuel into Bangladesh's first nuclear plant

MOSCOW: Russia's state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom said on Tuesday it had begun loading nuclear fuel into the first reactor at the Rooppur nuclear ‌power plant in ⁠Bangladesh.

The ⁠move is the first step in the reactor's start-up phase before it is brought up to its minimum controlled power level and power then gradually increased and electricity supplied to Bangladesh's power grid.

The ⁠Rooppur nuclear ‌plant, with a ​planned power ​generation capacity of 2,400 megawatts ⁠across two reactors, will add Bangladesh to ​the list of more than ​30 nations that have operating reactors.


The estimated project cost is about $13 billion, with Russia providing a state loan covering 90% of that.

Rosatom head Alexei ‌Likhachev said that Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in talks on Tuesday had confirmed the government's ⁠commissioning of the first unit and its approval to complete the rest of the plant.

Rosatom plans to commission the first unit by July 2026 and to begin commissioning the second unit in 2027.