Russian uranium shipment reaches Bangladesh for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant

"A cargo plane carrying the uranium shipment from Russia for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka last night," Kabir Hossain, Project Director of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, told ANI over the phone, without elaborating.

Last month, the cargo plane carrying uranium fuel for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant was supposed to arrive in Dhaka, but at that time, it could not arrive on schedule because Pakistan did not grant permission to use its airspace.

Pakistan has described its refusal to allow airspace for transporting nuclear fuel for Bangladesh's Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant as a technical issue.

"Pakistan maintains an unwavering commitment to international diplomatic norms and processes all requests for diplomatic flight and overflight clearances within a standardised, predictable timeframe, strictly in accordance with our established regulatory guidelines and civil aviation protocols," the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka said in a clarification on Tuesday.

"With regard to the reports being quoted, the matter appears to relate to technical and procedural arrangements concerning flight routing and airspace permissions, which can occasionally require coordination among the relevant aviation and other authorities and may result in adjustments to flight schedules," it added.

"Pakistan attaches high importance to its relations with Bangladesh, and it would therefore be appropriate to view the matter in its proper technical context and not attach undue significance to reports or narratives that may seek to misplace it to undermine our bilateral relations," the Pakistan High Commission said.

Nuclear fuel for Unit 2 of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh was scheduled to arrive on September 24.

"We had completed all the preparations at the airport and were waiting, but the liaison officer from Rosatom told us that the airspace was not clear. So we couldn't send it. It may need to be rescheduled," Sheikh Mohammed Tauhidul Islam, Joint Secretary to the Bangladesh Science and Technology Ministry, told ANI.

With support from Russia's Rosatom, this nuclear power plant is being built. To find out what the issue is, ANI sent an email to a Rosatom representative. But so far, there has been no response.

The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Bangladesh's first nuclear power facility, is being constructed in Rooppur village, located along the banks of the Padma River in Pakshi Union, Ishwardi Upazila, Pabna District, with technical assistance from the Russian Federation's State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) and under the oversight of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.

The project involves the construction of two third-generation VVER-1200 reactor units, which will collectively generate 2,400 megawatts of baseload electricity.

Bangladesh officially ushered in the nuclear age as the initial shipment of low-enriched uranium fuel for Unit 1 of the 2,400 MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) arrived safely from Russia. Manufactured by Rosatom's Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant, the 164 fresh fuel assemblies were flown directly from Russia into Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport aboard a heavy-lift Russian cargo aircraft under strict international safeguards.

From the capital, the radiation-shielded containers were transported along a heavily fortified "green corridor" guarded by the Bangladesh Army and law enforcement agencies to the plant site in Ishwardi, Pabna, where an official handover ceremony was held in October 2023. (ANI)