Tuesday, 25 March 2025
Alexey Deriy, Atomstroyexport JSC Vice President for Projects in Bangladesh, said: “Installation of the turbine at Rooppur nuclear power plant unit 1 has been completed successfully and this is an important step to the physical start-up of the plant. The turbine set placement on the barring gear and successful control checks confirm accuracy of the assembly and reliability of the equipment.”
Last week, hydraulic tests were completed on the unit, paving the way for hot functional tests to begin.
Rosatom in February 2011 signed an agreement for two reactors to be built at Rooppur, about 160 kilometres from the capital Dhaka, for the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission. The initial contract for the project, worth USD12.65 billion, was signed in December 2015. The Bangladesh Atomic Regulatory Authority issued the first site licence for the Rooppur plant in June 2016, allowing preliminary site works, including geological surveys, to begin.
Construction of the first unit began in November 2017. Construction of the second unit began in July 2018. They have an initial life-cycle of 60 years, with a further 20-year extension possible.
The first batch of nuclear fuel was delivered to the site in October 2023 – the moment that the site got its status as a nuclear facility. Rosatom says that grid connection for Rooppur unit 1 is one of its key targets for the current year.
