Twelve years ago, Russia and Bangladesh signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of a nuclear power plant. This was the starting point of the Rooppur project, which the country’s top officials call the dream of the Bangladeshi people. We recall some of the key project stages in our photo report.
In November 2011, an intergovernmental agreement was signed by Russia and Bangladesh to collaborate on the construction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. The agreement provided for the design engineering and construction of two Generation III+ VVER‑1200 reactors with a capacity of 1,200 MW each. The signing was followed by a series of meetings between Rosatom executives and Bangladesh’s top officials. A general construction contract was signed in 2015.
On November 4, 2017, the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA) issued a construction license for the Rooppur NPP. Construction works at Unit 1 began on November 30.
The construction permit for Rooppur Unit 2 was issued on July 8, 2018. The on-site works started on July 14 of the same year.
Installation of a molten core catcher (‘melt trap’), a pioneering safety device designed by Russian nuclear engineers, began at the construction site of Unit 1 in August 2018.
In October 2019, concreting of the first tier of the reactor building’s inner containment was completed at Unit 1, with 1,145 cubic meters of concrete laid.
In November 2020, concreting of the inner containment’s upper (cylindrical) section was completed at Unit 1.
In the summer of 2021, steam generators for Unit 2 were delivered to the Rooppur construction site.
In October 2021, a reactor pressure vessel was installed as designed at Unit 1. The installation requires pinpoint accuracy.
November 2021 saw a series of major milestones passed as the workers installed a polar crane in the reactor building of Unit 2 and all four steam generators at Unit 1.
In late November 2022, installation of steel structures for the outer containment dome was finished on the reactor building of Unit 1. The height of the building reached 64 meters.
In November 2022, a generator stator was installed in the turbine hall of Unit 2.
On October 5, 2023, the first batch of fresh nuclear fuel arrived at the Rooppur site from Russia. With this key project milestone passed, Bangladesh joined the ranks of emerging nuclear nations.
