Country's first nuclear power plant, being built at Rooppur in Pabna, generated some pertinent questions as officials said the project proceeded without full feasibility study and its overall cost assessment.
The government obtained a loan worth US $500 million (Tk 40 billion) from Russia. It has already spent most of the money before completion of the feasibility report and the environmental impact assessment (EIA) study, they added.
Russian loan for the preparatory stage of the construction of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) is being spent without any idea about the total cost of the project, said project-insiders.
At the fag-end of completing the preparatory work on the project, Russia recently demanded another $50 million from Bangladesh's own resources to complete the rest of the spadework, they added.
Bangladesh and Russia in November 2011 inked an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) for the construction of the nuclear power plant with two 1,000-megawatt-capacity units each.
Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) is acting as the authority to implement the provisions of the deal for executing the project on the Russian part, while the Science and Technology Ministry of Bangladesh as the execution authority for Bangladesh.
Russian Joint Stock Company Atomstroyexport is contractor from the Russian side while BAEC from home side.
Experts and industry-insiders, however, protested the way the government is going ahead with the RNPP project.
"It was very unusual for Bangladesh," said former chief engineer of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) Dr Abdul Matin.
"I wonder if the scope and the costs of the works were evaluated professionally before award of the contracts to the Russians," said
Mr Matin, currently the respected 'Rashid Professor' of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
Had there been any feasibility study carried out and a reputed consultant consulted, Russia would not have been able to seek the additional amount of 50 million dollars to complete the preparatory work for construction of RNPP, said a former chairman of BAEC, preferring anonymity.
Officials said during the signing of the IGA between Bangladesh and Russia in 2011, the BAEC had estimated construction cost of the 1,000MW first unit of RNPP between $1.5 billion and $2.0 billion.
The BAEC officials, however, came out of that initial estimation and recently re-estimated that the costs might be four-to-fivefold higher than the initial estimation, without quantifying the amount.
When contacted, Science and Technology Minister Yafes Osman Tuesday said, "The government is seriously moving ahead with its work to implement the RNPP project."
It has been designated as a fast-track project among the top-priority government projects of high importance, he told the FE.
Asked about the estimated cost of the RNPP, Mr Yafes Osman declined to quantify any amount.
"I am not interested to figure out the costs of implementing the RNPP project," he said.
The costs could be revealed on completion of the feasibility study and selection of design and technology for implementing the nuke project, he said.
Pointing at his seriousness over the project, he said, "I personally visited Japan to see the consequences of Fukushima nuclear tragedy to ensure that the RNPP could be constructed ensuring safety."
Project director of the RNPP Dr Mohammad Shawkat Akbar said, "A draft of the feasibility study has been prepared."
He could not say for sure when the feasibility study on the RNPP would be finalised and revealed.
"We are now working to implement the first unit of the planned two-unit nuclear power plant projects with Russian help," the project director told the FE.
He said Russia will supply necessary fuel for entire life of the nuclear power plants under the deal done. Spent fuel will be taken back to Russia to avoid any possible hazard.
It will also help decommissioning the nuclear power plant in future, the PD further said about the terms of Dhaka-Moscow nuke deal.
Under the package deal, Russia will also support developing necessary legislation and cooperate in development of nuclear science and technology in Bangladesh.
The Russian government will provide state loan to Bangladesh government to implement the nuclear power project.
The RNPP is part of government's plan to generate some 24,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity in the country by 2021-Bangladesh's golden-jubilee year.
Under a longer term in its vision, the government has set a target to generate 2,000MW and 4,000MW electricity from nuclear energy by 2022 and 2030 respectively.
The country's overall electricity generation is now hovering around 6,500 megawatts against demand for more than 7,500 MWs.
mazizur.rahman@outlook.com
