Rooppur power plant a gift to people of Pabna: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the Rooppur nuclear power plant is a gift to the people of Pabna.
The prime minister said this at a rally organised by district Awami League at Pabna Police Lines ground this afternoon.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Deputy Prime Minister of Russian Federation Yury Ivanovich Borisov today jointly inaugurated the construction of the second reactor unit of Rooppur nuclear power plant in Pabna.
The prime minister said Awami League does politics for the welfare of people and the nuclear power plant will create employment opportunities for many.
“It (the power plant) is a gift to the people of Pabna,” she said.
When the power plant will go in operation, it will generate 2,400 megawatts of electricity from the two units, the PM said.
Addressing the rally, Hasina extended her thanks to the people for voting for ‘Boat’ symbol.
“Since you have voted for ‘Boat’ symbol, Bangladesh is now experiencing development,” the PM said.
“Boat always gives to people. As you have voted for the ‘Boat’ symbol, Bangladesh became independent.”
Alleging that the BNP-Jamaat alliance always indulges in politics of killings, corruption, vandalism, arsons and embezzlement of orphans’ money, the premier urged all to prevent them from clinging to power.
“Every time you cast your vote for ‘Boat’, Awami League comes to power and brings development to the country.”
A total of 4 million people are receiving old age allowances while around 1.4 million women have been enlisted under the purview of monthly allowances to poor widows and female divorcees, she said.
The PM also highlighted other development projects and achievments of the present government in different sectors including education, health, agriculture, and housing.
With the launching of Bangabandhu-1, the first ever satellite of the country, Bangladesh has now conquered the space, the premier said.
Reiterating her firm stance against militancy and drugs, Hasina said the country will be free from these menaces under her leadership.
She urged the teachers and Imams to inform the people about the adverse effects of drugs and enlighten the society about the evils of militancy.
“Islam is a religion of peace and there is no place for militancy in the name of religion,” she said.
The PM also laid the foundations for a number of other development projects in the district.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Deputy Prime Minister of Russian Federation YuryIvanovich Borisovon jointly inaugurated the construction of the second reactor unit of Rooppur plant by pouring concrete at the construction site.
The construction of the first reactor unit began on November 30, 2017.Currently the works on construction of the walls, reinforcement of the reactor building and the foundation slab of the auxiliary reactor building are being performed, while soil stabilisation works for the evaporative cooling tower and others have already been commenced.
Two units -- 1,200 MWe VVER each -- are to be built at Rooppur under the Russian design giving priority to the highest safety measures at Rooppur, some 160km from Dhaka. The VVER-1,200 reactor design has already been implemented at Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant II in Russia.
Unit-1 is scheduled to be commissioned in 2023, while the commissioning of the second unit is slated for 2024 to produce 2,400 megawatts of electricity from the two units.
In February 2011, Rosatom, the state atomic energy corporation of the Russian Federation, signed an agreement with the Bangladesh government to build the nuke plant at Rooppur.
The initial contract for the project, worth $12.65 billion, was inked in December, 2015.
The Rooppur NPP construction is performed based on the Russia-Bangladesh Intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the area of NPP construction in the territory of Bangladesh, signed on November 2, 2011.
On December 25, 2015 General Contract for designing, construction and commissioning of 2 NPP power units each of 1200 Mwe capacity and based on VVER-reactors was signed in Dhaka.
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