Ishwardi (Pabna) Correspondent :
The country’s largest mega project, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, has also made significant progress in terms of infrastructural construction work. After the inauguration of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on November 30, 2017, 50 percent of the work has been completed in 2021 with maximum 20 percent infrastructural progress. Construction of the three-generation Russian VVER-1200 reactor Unit-1 and Unit-2 is progressing at the same pace in six months. Meanwhile, on October 10, 2021, the Prime Minister inaugurated the installation of 330 tonne reactor power vessel (nuclear reactor) of Sheikh Unit-1 at design position. Alexei Likhachev, director general of the Russian Atomic Energy Organization, was also present at the event in Rooppur, Ishwardi. About 5,000 foreigners, including Russians, are now stationed at Rooppur in Ishwardi, carrying out construction work. Officials of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, including foreigners and employees of various contractors, have been assured of the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine. With the goal of completing 1st unit construction in 2023 and 2nd unit construction in 2024, the infrastructural work is being taken forward as per schedule. However, it is learned that there is no reason to think that the work of the project has been completed once the infrastructural construction work is completed. Fuel procurement and commissioning will be possible with IAEA accreditation once all matters have been complied with in accordance with international norms.
Project Director. Shaukat Akbar told The New Nation that all the components have been placed in the 1st unit as per the schedule. Welding work is in progress after installation of dome. The rest is the router component wall. The ‘Start of Adjustment’ or pre-commissioning work will start in October after the construction of the infrastructure is completed by mid-2022. The start of adjustment is to test each component (equipment) installed in the reactor building separately. This work takes about a year. So that nuclear fuel loading can be arranged by commissioning in 2023 at the end of construction.
He added that the power plant will not be operational only after the completion of construction. The commissioning of the nuclear plant will start after the completion of construction. And many components are involved in commissioning work. There are three stages of commissioning. The main commissioning will be when the reaction will start after loading the fuel. There is a lot of infrastructure involved with the main fuel loading. The important infrastructure of a nuclear plant is nuclear governance. Safety, Security and Safeguards. The infrastructure of these three is the most complex. Now the work that is being done is nuclear safety management. Safeguard is nuclear governance. Nuclear governance is not just about the law of the land. There are international laws, treaties and state commitments for this. Commissioning or loading of fuel cannot be done only by completing nuclear construction without proper observance of these three. At the same time, we must ensure that our country has a safeguard of nuclear law, infrastructure, nuclear security and nuclear material. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delegation will visit Bangladesh at various times to test the international commitments made by Bangladesh on these issues. He said that Rooppur nuclear project would be considered as good commissioning and would get recognition from the international community only if the international requirements of nuclear governance are fully complied with.
PD said there is no room for disregarding international norms in setting up nuclear reactors. If a country disregards international requirements and loads nuclear fuel, it will be considered as disregarding international agreements in the United Nations. And Bangladesh will never want that. The construction of a nuclear power plant is the only component. But he said more activities were involved in the nuclear program. Building a nuclear infrastructure is essential to sustain the country’s nuclear program. Construction is underway in Rooppur. After the completion of the construction work, we will go into operation by commissioning. There are a number of international legal obligations and approvals in the areas of nuclear fuel supply, fuel transportation, fuel conservation and energy security. Russia or Bangladesh will not be able to send or bring fuel if they want to. A number of missions will come to Bangladesh for verification on behalf of the IAEA to examine whether legal obligations are being observed before commissioning. In addition to the infrastructural preparation of Rooppur Atomic, the issue of safeguard preparation at the national level will also be monitored internationally. Bangladesh is responsible to the United Nations and the IAEA under Article 1540 for ensuring safeguards of nuclear energy. All preparations will be measured and monitored by IAEA. Once all matters have been properly complied with, it will be possible to obtain and commission fuel with IAEA accreditation. Therefore, there is no reason to think that the project work is over once the infrastructural construction work is over. Dr Shaukat said.
The site engineer of the project Ashraful Islam has highlighted the important work aspects of the reactor building to be completed in 2021 in the two units.
Unit-1:
The polar crane was installed in January 2021. In June, 12 hydroeculators were installed in the pressure riser and later in two steps. The dome has been installed after the concrete casting of the inner container wall has been completed. 1.5 m welding work is going on on the dome every 25 days. Following the inauguration of the Reactor Power Vessel installation on 10 October, four steam generators were installed around it in November. Carry out important welding work of pipeline from reactor power vessel to steam generator. Civil construction up to 18 meters has been completed in the turbine building. Metal construction work is also going on through 39 columns from 18 meters to 41 meters.
Unit-2 :
The work of the first unit as well as the second unit is being taken forward with equal importance. Many works of this unit are being completed ahead of schedule. In December, the casting of the inner containment building was completed from 36 meters to 43 meters. The dome will be placed on it. Earlier bubbler tanks were installed in April and polar cranes in November. Work on the observatory building in this unit is also progressing at a fast pace. Construction of 4 cooling towers for two units is in progress. 100 cooling columns are placed in each cooling tower. These are completed at a height of 185 meters.
Meanwhile, a state-of-the-art reactor simulator has been installed at the training center in 2021. Through this, the engineers trained abroad of the commission are gaining more skills by practicing regularly.
