The construction work of the second unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) is scheduled to start on July 14, officials said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the 'first concrete boring' that means the start of the construction work.
The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA), the regulator of the country's nuclear power activities, will formally hand over the design and construction licence of the second unit to the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) at a function to be held at a city hotel today (Sunday).
On November 30 last year, the Prime Minister inaugurated the construction work of the first unit of the RNPP.
The BAERA also provided site licence for construction of the RNPP to the BAEC on June 21, 2016.
The contractor is bound to complete the construction of the respective unit of the RNPP within 66 months of inking the deal, a senior official of the Ministry of Science and Technology told the FE on Saturday.
As per the contracts, the first 1200MW unit of the RNPP would be completed by June 2023 and the second unit by April, 2024.
The RNPP plants will use two generation 3+ VVER-1200 reactors.
The RNPP is being built under an agreement with Russia which will finance most part of the total cost of the plant. Russian contractors are already working at the project site.
The BAEC has assigned India's Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) to work as a consultant for the construction and operation of the plant.
The Rooppur project has been taken up involving a total cost of around Tk 1.13 trillion ($12.65 billion) with Russian financing worth $11.38 billion being provided to Bangladesh for the project.
The Russian Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs and Bangladesh's state-owned Sonali Bank Ltd. will work as authorised banks for the state loan.
The Bangladesh government will provide Tk 220.52 billion of its own funding for the project. India will also provide around $1 billion in loan to facilitate construction of necessary plant infrastructure, officials said.
Most of the Indian loans will be spent on infrastructure development after construction of an electricity transmission line to connect the nuclear power plant with the Bangladesh's national grid after the plant starts operation, they added.
The BAEC and Russian company, JSC Atomstroyexport, signed a general contract for construction of the TNPP on December 25 in 2015.
On December 15 in 2015, the Bangladesh government finalised the amount for the biggest-ever investment project in the country's history by inking an initial agreement with Russia.
Earlier in January 2013, an inter-governmental agreement was signed for the provision of a $500 million Russian loan to finance engineering design, site development and personnel training.
On November 02, 2011, Bangladesh signed a deal with Russia's state-owned nuclear giant Rosatom to construct the nuclear plant.
Russia will provide assistance under the agreement for setting up the plant including fuel supply and taking back the used fuel.
A total of 262 acres of land have been acquired to set up two units of the plant with a capacity of 2,400 MW.
On October 02, 2013, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone of the RNPP at Ishwardi in Pabna.
