Russia is sending nuclear equipment to the Rooppur nuclear power plant by sea.Daily Provat Bangla

 Russia is sending nuclear equipment to the Rooppur nuclear power plant by sea.

 Shishir Mahmud (Pabna): The process of importing the necessary nuclear equipment for the Rooppur nuclear power plant in Pabna from Russia has started.

 The main and larger devices of the first unit of the two-unit center will start arriving in the country from next October or November.

 Russia has already completed the construction of four steam generators in various machinery manufacturing plants.

 One of the ships with a steam generator and VVER-1200 reactor (reactor pressure vessel) set sail for Bangladesh on Thursday (August 20th).

 According to the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and the Nuclear Power Plant Company and the Russian Atomic Energy Agency Rosatom, which is engaged in the implementation and construction of the project.

 The largest project in the country in terms of finances is the Rooppur nuclear power plant construction project.

 The two units of the project, which started in 2013, will generate a total of 2,400 MW of electricity.  The cost of this project is about 1 lakh crore rupees.

 The first unit of 1,200 MW capacity will start generating electricity in 2023.  Production of the second unit of the same capacity will start in 2024.

 Russia will manufacture and supply all nuclear equipment to the plant.  The country will also provide a loan of Tk 91,040 crore for the lion's share of the total cost of the fast track project.

 The people involved in the project said that the infrastructural development work of the project has already progressed a lot in the country.  Now the work of installing necessary equipment including nuclear equipment will be taken forward.

 These devices will be supplied by Russia.  30 long-term machines are being manufactured in different factories of the country.

 As part of this, a Bangladeshi delegation is currently in Russia to test the quality and effectiveness of the equipment and understand the operational issues.

 The eight-member delegation includes Mahmoud Hossain, director and chief engineer of the Nuclear Power Energy Division, chief scientific officer Dr.  Syed Masud Rana, senior scientific officer Mohammad Ashraful Haque and Md.  Ahsanul Habib, Engineer Mohammad Shahriar Ashraf and Engineer.  Shamsul Alam, Scientific Officer Mohammad Sajjad Dewan and Deputy Engineer.  Yunus Ali.

 They are overseeing the construction of machinery at various manufacturing companies in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Volgogradsk and Petrozabad, Russia.

 Rooppur nuclear power plant construction project director.  Mohammad Shaukat Akbar said that the hydraulic test of the reactor pressure vessel and a steam generator prepared for the first unit of the center has been successfully completed. This is an important step in the implementation of the project.  Construction of four steam generators for the first unit has been completed.  In the final stage, the work of making the steam generator of the second unit is in progress.

 These devices will start arriving in the country by next October.

 Andrei Nikipelov, director general of the Russian company JSC Automenargomash, which manufactures equipment, said:

 These will reach the power plant of Bangladesh by the end of this year after crossing 14,000 kilometers by sea.  He said that the weight of the sent reactor is 333.06 tons. The weight of the steam generator is 340 tons.  After crossing various jetties and routes of Russia, they will come to Bangladesh through Black Sea and Suez Canal.