Staff Reporter :
Russia will take back the spent fuel of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant as its radio active radiation is high. However, 96 per cent of spent fuel is capable of recycling, said Chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) Engineer M Ali Zulquarnain.
This was disclosed in a roundtable conference titled “Nuclear Power Project: Environmental and Safety Aspects” at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Novotheater in the city on Monday.
Russia’s State Nuclear Corporation-Rosatom organized the conference in association with the Ministry of Science and Technology, BAEC and Russian Atomstroyexport (ASE).
Russian expert Ilya Platonov made a presentation at the conference while its South Asian Communication manager Arkady Karneev also spoke on the occasion.
Defending the high cost of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, the BAEA Chairman said that safety issues have been ensured in the country’s first-ever nuclear power project and the ‘safety has got its value’.
“Many may say the project has been a costlier one, but safety has got its value,” he told reporters responding to different questions on safety and security of the nuclear power technology at the conference.
He believes that ensuring safety issues in Roopppur Nuclear Power Plant has raised the cost of the project high.
The BAEC Chairman said the proposed Russian nuclear reactor of VER 1200 will have ‘passive safety system’ which ensures automatic shutdown of the plant in the case of any accident.
Describing his 30 years of experience in BAEC’s Savar Nuclear Centre where a small reactor remained in operation for research work, he said Russian nuclear technology has been proven to be safer one as many countries have set up nuclear power plants with Russian technology.
He, however, said many new technologies are coming up in nuclear power plants offering safety features. “So, there’ll be no problem in the coming days in setting up such plants in urban populated areas as well.”
Zulquarnain said neighboring India has planned to set up a huge number of nuclear power plants having a total capacity of 64,000 MW by 2030.
He also claimed that nuclear power technology is an environment-friendly one for its low carbon emission.
In his speech, Russian expert Ilya Platonov said that riverine route would be used to transport the spent fuel and heavy equipment of the plant. He said the management of spent fuel is part of nuclear power plant operation.
Bangladesh has signed a $12.65 billion contract in December last year with Russia to set up a 2400 MW nuclear power plant in Rooppur. In addition, Russia has charged $550 million for the plant design and conducting a feasibility study.
Many nuclear power plant experts, including BUET Professor M Tamim and PDB’s former Chief Engineer (Planning) Mizanur Rahman, found this cost higher compared to similar capacity plants in different countries.
Rosatom also organised a photography exhibition titled “The Ecology Around NPP” by a renowned Hungarian Photographer Balint Vincze at the Novotheater conference venue.
