Dhaka sees no reason to halt nuclear ambition
Mushir Ahmed | Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Mushir Ahmed
The country has no plan to ditch its nuclear power ambition despite a catastrophic tsunami in Japan has heightened the fear of the worst fallout from the explosions in nuclear power plants. Dhaka has signed an initial accord with Moscow last month to buy two Russian nuclear reactors, each having the capacity to produce 1000 megawatt power. The government hopes to set up the plants at a cost of about $3.0 billion by 2017. A final agreement is expected when prime minister Sheikh Hasina visits Moscow midway through this year. With Japan struck by a nuclear tragedy following the last week"s tsunami, officials of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) are unfazed, saying they see no reason to panic or change their plan in a hurry. Farid Uddin Ahmed, the chairman of the BAEC, said the country is neither in the earthquake zone nor there is any chance that the proposed nuclear power plant site would be hit by a tsunami. "We are watching the situation in Japan closely. We will obviously read the International Atomic Energy Commission comments on the nuclear meltdown in Japan," he told the FE. "But we don"t think there is anything to concern over the proposed two nuclear reactors in Rooppur, Pabna. The area is at least 300 kilometers (200 miles) from the sea. We don"t see any chance of a tsunami smashing into the plants," he said. He said the plants are being set up at a place where there has been no record of massive tremor at least for the last 100-150 years. "Still, safety is our biggest concern. We are buying the latest and third generation reactors from Russia which will be able to withstand even the most powerful earthquake," he said. "Bangladesh is flood-prone. But we will design the nuclear power plants such a way that even the worst possible flood cannot submerge the plant," he added. Another senior official involved in the nuclear negotiation with Russia said the Japanese reactors were too old and melted down due to one of the worst tsunamis in world history. "The disaster in Japan occurred because the cooling system in the reactors concerned failed and the stand-by generators collapsed due to the tsunami, not the earthquake. Besides, the reactors were at least 40 years old," he said. "By contrast, the reactors we are planning to buy are built keeping in mind every possible worst-case scenario. Even, they will be able to resist the 9/11 type of plane attack on the World Trade Centre," he said. "Still, the tragedy in Japan is a lesson for every one. And we will be factoring in these events before setting up the nuclear power plants," he added. He said Bangladesh is taking IAEA advice in every move it is making on the nuclear power plants. "They are supervising our plans and will be there until the plants are set up," he said. The government hopes the N-power plants would be cheaper option to get rid of the acute power crisis. With oil price jumping every month and gas crisis getting worse every year, officials are pinning hopes on N-plants to diversify the country"s energy source. Under the government-government deal with Russia, the BAEC won"t have to do much other than running the plants on day-to-day basis. Moscow has agreed to supply nuclear fuel and take back spent fuel and nuclear wastes. The events in Japan, however, have prompted many nations to rethink their nuclear strategies. Germany has shut down at least seven aging nuclear reactors for three months in the wake of the tragedy.
The country has no plan to ditch its nuclear power ambition despite a catastrophic tsunami in Japan has heightened the fear of the worst fallout from the explosions in nuclear power plants. Dhaka has signed an initial accord with Moscow last month to buy two Russian nuclear reactors, each having the capacity to produce 1000 megawatt power. The government hopes to set up the plants at a cost of about $3.0 billion by 2017. A final agreement is expected when prime minister Sheikh Hasina visits Moscow midway through this year. With Japan struck by a nuclear tragedy following the last week"s tsunami, officials of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) are unfazed, saying they see no reason to panic or change their plan in a hurry. Farid Uddin Ahmed, the chairman of the BAEC, said the country is neither in the earthquake zone nor there is any chance that the proposed nuclear power plant site would be hit by a tsunami. "We are watching the situation in Japan closely. We will obviously read the International Atomic Energy Commission comments on the nuclear meltdown in Japan," he told the FE. "But we don"t think there is anything to concern over the proposed two nuclear reactors in Rooppur, Pabna. The area is at least 300 kilometers (200 miles) from the sea. We don"t see any chance of a tsunami smashing into the plants," he said. He said the plants are being set up at a place where there has been no record of massive tremor at least for the last 100-150 years. "Still, safety is our biggest concern. We are buying the latest and third generation reactors from Russia which will be able to withstand even the most powerful earthquake," he said. "Bangladesh is flood-prone. But we will design the nuclear power plants such a way that even the worst possible flood cannot submerge the plant," he added. Another senior official involved in the nuclear negotiation with Russia said the Japanese reactors were too old and melted down due to one of the worst tsunamis in world history. "The disaster in Japan occurred because the cooling system in the reactors concerned failed and the stand-by generators collapsed due to the tsunami, not the earthquake. Besides, the reactors were at least 40 years old," he said. "By contrast, the reactors we are planning to buy are built keeping in mind every possible worst-case scenario. Even, they will be able to resist the 9/11 type of plane attack on the World Trade Centre," he said. "Still, the tragedy in Japan is a lesson for every one. And we will be factoring in these events before setting up the nuclear power plants," he added. He said Bangladesh is taking IAEA advice in every move it is making on the nuclear power plants. "They are supervising our plans and will be there until the plants are set up," he said. The government hopes the N-power plants would be cheaper option to get rid of the acute power crisis. With oil price jumping every month and gas crisis getting worse every year, officials are pinning hopes on N-plants to diversify the country"s energy source. Under the government-government deal with Russia, the BAEC won"t have to do much other than running the plants on day-to-day basis. Moscow has agreed to supply nuclear fuel and take back spent fuel and nuclear wastes. The events in Japan, however, have prompted many nations to rethink their nuclear strategies. Germany has shut down at least seven aging nuclear reactors for three months in the wake of the tragedy.