Installation work of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) in the Unit-2 of the under-construction 2,400-megawatt (MW) Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) at Ishwardi in Pabna will be inaugurated today (Wednesday).
Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the installation work online, a senior official of the Ministry of Science and Technology told the FE on Tuesday.
Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosa-tom's Director General Alexey Likhachev is also likely to attend the inaugural ceremony.
Reactor pressure vessel is a thick steel container that holds nuclear fuel when the reactor operates. The vessel provides one of the several barriers that keep radioactive materials out of touch of the environment.
The RPV in the Rooppur NPP Unit-1 was also inaugurated by the PM on October 10, 2021.
The first RPV was manufactured by the Volgodonsk branch of Russia's AEM-Technologies.
During the installation process, a Liebherr-11350 heavy caterpillar crane raised the RPV to the transportation lock, inside the reactor building containment.
The vessel was then moved to the central hall of the reactor - built on a special transportation trolley.
Finally, a polar crane was used to put the RPV in a vertical position and install it on the support ring in the reactor pit.
The US$13.48-billion Rooppur NPP is being built under a supplier's credit deal with Russia. Atomstroyexport, Rosatom's international projects' subsidiary, is the lead contractor of the project.
The Russian Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs and Bangladesh's state-owned Sonali Bank Ltd are the authorised banks for the state loan.
Bangladesh government will provide Tk 220.52 billion of its own funding to the project. India will also provide around $1.0 billion as loan to facilitate construction of necessary plant infrastructure.
The plant will have two power units, each with a capacity of 1,200 MW.
Bangladesh is currently receiving various process equipment for construction and further operation of the NPP, including RPV and steam generator, after building a dedicated freight water terminal at the nearby Padma River.
To ensure timely implementation of the plant, Bangladesh continued its construction work even during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.
Some 55 per cent project work of the NPP has already been completed, of which 70 per cent work of the Unit-1 and 48 per cent work of the Unit-2 has been carried out, said officials.
Russia will start supplying uranium, the main fuel for the plant, from October next year.
Bangladesh, however, sought to start importing the fuel from September next year for timely implementation of the project work, the officials added.
The Rooppur NPP construction is based on the Russia-Bangladesh intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in nuclear plant construction, signed on November 2, 2011.
Azizjst@yahoo.com