Dhaka-Moscow approve spent nuclear fuel draft deal

Bangladesh and Russia have approved a draft of agreement on spent fuel management for Rooppur nuclear power plant recently.

Both the countries have agreed to prepare the final documents for formal signing of the much-talked deal soon, according to a release issued by ROSATOM today.

A Russian delegation comprising Nikolay Spassky, Deputy CEO of State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM and Alexey Ferapontov, Deputy Head of the Federal Environmental, Industrial and Nuclear Supervision Service of Russia (Rostekhnadzor) visited in the capital.

The delegate discussed various issues related to Rooppur NPP construction with Bangladesh including preparation of the intergovernmental agreement on spent fuel management for the Rooppur nuclear power plant. After detailed negotiation, both the sides reached a consensus on the issue.

Russian Ambassador in Dhaka Alexander Ignatov also joined the meeting, the release said.

The delegation also discussed completion of the preparatory phase contracts and the beginning of the main phase of the nuclear plant construction.

Both the sides came to a general understanding that the key task in the upcoming period is to ensure the "first concrete" pouring at the power unit-1 of the Rooppur NPP within the stipulated time frame. A special working group has been formed in order to ensure current cooperation involving regulators from both the countries, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) and ASE Group of Companies, it added.

As part of the programme, the Russian delegation visited the Rooppur NPP construction site and joined a working meeting.

Naiyyum Choudhury, Chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA), Dr. Engr. Md Monzurul Haque, Chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) and representatives of ASE Group of Companies, the general contractor of the project, also took part in the meeting.

The preliminary results of the scheduled work for the RNPP will be presented during the meeting of the Joint Coordination Council scheduled to be held in Moscow in June- July 2017, the release said.

Source: BSS