The government is eyeing three contracts with Russia regarding Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) lifecycle services by December 2019 to smoothly implement the project.
"We're working to complete negotiations over the issues and ink the deals within the timeframe," science
and technology secretary Md Anwar Hossain told the FE.
They are nuclear fuel supply contract, service contract for operation technical support, maintenance and repair, and contract for spent nuclear fuel management.
Top officials of Bangladesh and Russia at a recent meeting set a timeline to sign the deals, said Mr Hossain.
They agreed to sign the 'nuclear fuel supply deal' by December 2018 and 'service contract for operation technical support, maintenance and repair' by first quarter of 2019.
The 'contract for spent nuclear fuel management' will be inked by the end of December 2019.
Both sides at the meeting also agreed to make best efforts to ensure the commissioning of the Rooppur NPP first unit in 2023 and second unit in 2024.
The project is based on the Russia-Bangladesh Intergovernmental Agreement, signed on November 02 in 2011, on cooperation in the area of nuclear power plant construction in Bangladesh.
It has a total cost of around Tk 1.13 trillion ($12.65 billion), with Russ providing funds worth $11.38 billion.
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 selected design for Rooppur is based on the VVER1200 reactor, with its prototype at Novovoronezh-2 in Russia.
This is an evolutionary Generation III+ design which entirely meets all international safety requirements.
The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) has assigned India's Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership, or GCNEP, to act as a consultant for building and operating the plant.
The Bangladesh government will provide Tk 220.52 billion of its own funding for the project in northern Pabna district.
India will also provide around $1 billion loan to facilitate construction of necessary plant infrastructure.
Bangladesh initiated construction phase of the 1,200MW Rooppur-2 of the country's first nuclear power plant on July 14 with the pouring of first concrete on the nuclear island.
The first concrete-laying ceremony for the 1200MW Rooppur-1 project was held at Iswardi of the district on November 30 in 2017.
The design and construction work on the site are being performed by Atomstroyexport, Rosatom Engineering Division.
Rosatom Machine Building Division-Atomenergomash-is the supplier of the complete equipment for the reactor island as well as of the auxiliary equipment for the turbine island.
Various divisions of Rosatom are in charge of manufacture of reactor vessels, steam generators, pumps, heat-exchange and other equipment.
The project is being developed by Atomstroyexport, or ASE, the Russian state nuclear company Rosatom's international projects subsidiary.
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