Rooppur Power Plant: PM to open construction tomorrow

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to inaugurate the main construction work of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant at the project site tomorrow.

The plant is expected to produce 1,200 megawatt electricity in 2024 and another 1,200 MW the following year.

“Bangladesh has fulfilled all the conditions of the International Atomic Energy Agency to set up the nuclear power plant. After reviewing Bangladesh's initiative, the agency has expressed its highest satisfaction,” Science and Technology Minister Yafesh Osman told The Daily Star yesterday.

The main construction work would begin giving highest priority to the safety and security measures, the minister added.

The initiative for building the nuclear power plant was taken in 1961. The incumbent government is implementing the project as one of its first-track schemes.

Preparations for the inauguration programme have already been completed, said Dilip Kumar Shah, chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.

He said they were hopeful of completing the main construction work within the scheduled time so that the country can get another 2,400 MW electricity by 2025. 

Meanwhile, 300 students of Rooppur High School organised a flash mob on the school ground, around one kilometre off the project site, yesterday. Students in red and green dresses made a sign reading “I Love Rooppur”, to mark the inauguration of the main construction work.

The students joined the programme to create awareness among the local people about the nuclear power plant, said Farhad Kamal, officer at the public relations department at the Russian company Rosatom's Dhaka office.